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THIRD EDITION. PRICE 3O CENTS 



♦ ♦♦ 



Potatoes 



FOR 



Profit 



BY ... . 



F. B. VAN ORNAM 



& 



.V/^V 







PUBLISHED BY 



W. ATI9EE BURPEE &r CO. 

PHILADELPHIA 



COPYRIGHT. 1895, BY W. AtlEE BurpeE & CO. 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 



VAN ORNAM. 



POTATOES 



FOR PROFIT 



BY 

F. B. VAN ORNAM. 



WITH TWENTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS. 



THIRD EDITION. 



,0- ^,_ 









PUBLISHED BY 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., 

PHILADELPHIA. 

1896. 






7171 



0U6^ 



Copyright, 1895, by W. Atlee Burpee & Co. 



'^'^% 
^%^^ 



WM. F. FELL & CO., 

^LECTROTYPERS AND PRINTERS, 

1220-24 SANSOM STREET, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. 



Experience has clearly proved that we can build upon no 
surer foundation, both for our patrons and for ourselves, than 
by disseminating among planters the best thought and prac- 
tice of advanced farmers and horticulturists. 

Good books on rural topics, have, as a rule, been high- 
priced in America. This has been due to the fact that such 
works have usually been confined to small editions and have 
been addressed to a limited circle of readers. In a country 
so vast, with such diversified agricultural interests, and with 
the most intelligent rural population in the world, this should 
not be the case ; the best farm literature should be for the 
million as well as the few. With the rapid expansion of our 
seed business has grown an extraordinary demand for useful 
books on farm and garden topics. Indeed, it is this univer- 
sal spirit of inquiry that has made possible the marvelous 
growth of our publishing department. 

In no field, during recent years, has literary activity been 
more prolific in fruitful achievement, and in none have 
the labors of practical writers been welcomed with greater 
enthusiasm. 

The author of the present volume is one of the best-known 



VI PUBLISHERS PREFACE. 

potato growers of the country, and is the originator of stand- 
ard varieties of world-wide celebrity. 

Mr. Van Ornam's work has been edited in our publishing 
department, and chapters added on Chemical Fertilizers, 
Insect Enemies, and Fungous Diseases. 

The story of his experience as a potato grower, covering 
more than a third of the century, cannot fail, we believe, 
to interest and prove profitable to all who read his book. 

W. A. B. & Co. 

Philadelphia, January, i8gj. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



The increase in the production of the potato has by no 
means kept pace with the increase in population. We are 
to-day. the sixth nation in point of production, while the per 
capita consumption is much below that of many other nations. 
This, we believe to be partially due to the fact that prices, on 
a whole, have ruled higher in this country for potatoes than 
for many other staple articles of food. 

Among nations we are not only the heaviest importers, 
except Austria-Hungary, and the smallest exporters, — our 
exportations being mostly for seed, — but we are almost the 
smallest in per capita consumption. 

The following tables of production, imports, and exporta- 
tions, taken from the Rural New-Yorker y December i6th, 
1893, ^^^ vcio^i significant : — 



Germany, . . 
France, .... 
Russia- Poland, . 
Austria Hungary, 
United Kingdom, 
United States, . 
Canada, .... 
Belgium, . . . 



Production. 

Bushels. 
891,723,040 
396,746,138 
464,441,187 

409,368,793 

228,093.397 

169,809,053 

61,669,009 

99,486,505 

vii 



Exports. 

Bushels. 

6,538,079 

4,634,800 

1,257,323 

536,564 

465,059 

3-784,367 

679,692 



Imports. 

Bushels. 
1,709-336 

779,618 

13,604 

5,334,665 

3,033,504 
65,294 

2,783,649 



Vlll AUTHOR S PREFACE. 

These figures are, for the most part, the averages of six or 
seven years. They show that Americans are using fewer 
potatoes per capita than any of the other great nations. Not 
only do we import over 3,000,000 bushels, but of over 
10,000,000 bushels imported into the United Kingdom, and 
by five of the great nations of the continent, we do not 
supply a single bushel. 

The Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1893 shows 
that the average yield per acre for the whole country is much 
below that of fifteen years ago. The estimated crop area for 
1893 ^^ 2,605,186 acres, and the product 183,034,203 bushels, 
an average yield per acre of 70.3 bushels. Surely, in the 
foregoing figures there is food for reflection. 

Why do we not supply the home market, and wliy are our 
exports practically nothing in comparison with the exporta- 
tions of less favored nations ? 

The tuber is easily grown, and land that will produce a 
crop of clover will generally return an excellent yield of 
potatoes, while under high culture, the crop responds enor- 
mously. In a country abounding with the best potato-produc- 
ing lands in the world, with the most improved machinery 
for planting and harvesting the crop, and with the markets 
of the world open to our farmers, we should lead the world in 
the production of this enormous food supply. Yet it is quite 
evident that the American farmer is not making the most of 

his opportunities with the potato. 

F. B. Van Ornam. 

Lewis, Iowa, January, i8gs- 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. PAGES 

Introduction — Brief History of the Potato, 9-12 

CHAPTER H. 
Soil and Preparation, 13-15 

CHAPTER HI. 
Manures and Chemical Fertilizers — I. Farmyard Manure — H. 

Chemical Fertilizers, 16-23 

CHAPTER IV. 

Planting — Time of Planting — Distance Apart — Depth of Planting, . 24-31 

CHAPTER V. 
Cultivation, 32-37 

CHAPTER VI. 

Insect Enemies — Colorado Potato Beetle — Potato or Tomato 
Worm — Blister Beetles — Imbricated Snout-beetle — Potato Stalk 
Weevil, 38-45 

CHAPTER VII. 
Fungous Diseases — Potato Scab — Blight — Leaf Spot Disease or 
Early Blight — Late Blight or Downy Mildew — Bordeaux Mix- 
ture, . . , 46-52 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Hars-esting, 53-57 

CHAPTER IX. 

Storing and Marketing, 58-64 

ix 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X. PAGES 

Propagating New Varieties — Saving the Seed — The Seedling — 

Growing Seed Potatoes — The Trench System 65-72 

CHAPTER XI. 
Leading Varieties — Burpee's Extra Early — Early Six Weeks Mar- 
ket — Van Ornam's Earliest — Early Ohio— Early Maine — Early 
Puritan — Beauty of Hebron — Freeman — Extra Early Walton — 
Early Rose— Early Polaris — The Great Divide — Burpee's Em- 
pire State — Burbank's Seedling — Burpee's Superior — World's 
p^air — Rural New Yorker, No. 2 — White Elephant — Brownell's 
Winner — Extra Early Vermont, ... 73-^2 

Index, 83, 84 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The native home of the species from which our many 
varieties of potatoes have originated, is believed to be the 
high mountain region of South America, within those vast 
territories which once comprised the ancient Empire of Peru. 

*' High up on the slopes of the Cordilleras," says the his- 
torian of the Empire of the Incas, '^ beyond the limits of 
the maize and of the quanda — a grain bearing some resem- 
blance to rice, and largely cultivated by the Indians — was to 
be found the potato, the introduction of which into Europe 
has made an era in the history of agriculture. Whether in- 
digenous to Peru, or imported from the neighboring country 
of Chili, it formed the great staple of the more elevated plains 
under the Incas, and its culture was continued to a height in 
the equatorial regions which reached many thousand feet 
above the limits of perpetual snow in the temperate latitudes 
of Europe. Wild specimens of the vegetable might be seen 
still higher, springing up spontaneously amidst the stunted 
shrubs that clothed the lofty sides of the Cordilleras, till these 
gradually subsided into mosses and the short, yellow grass, 
pajonal, which, like a golden carpet, was unrolled around the 
base of the mighty cones that rose far into the regions of 
eternal silence, covered with the snows of centuries." Pres- 
cott's ''Conquest of Peru," Vol. i, page 144. 

9 



lO POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

The early Spanish discoverers found the potato in Chili, 
Peru, New Granada, and all along the chain of the Andes. 
Humboldt, who bestowed much study on the early history of 
the plant, says it was unknown to the ancient Mexicans, an 
opinion confirmed by the concurrent testimony of many 
travelers and writers. It was also unknown to the aborigines 
in the eastern temperate regions of South America. 

There is a vast amount of conflicting testimony regarding 
the introduction of the potato into western Europe. It is be- 
lieved to have been brought into Spain from Quito, by Spanish 
adventurers, in the early part of the sixteenth century. From 
Spain the potato passed into Italy, and from thence was carried 
into Mons by some one in attendance on the papal legate in 
Belgium. In 1588* Phillipe de Sivry, Seigneur of Waldheim, 
and Governor of Mons, sent the tuber to the celebrated bota- 
nist, Clusius, at Vienna, who states that in a short time it 
spread rapidly throughout Germany. Clusius published the 
first good description and illustration of the potato under the 
name oi Papas Peruajwrum. From his description, the species 
seems to have changed but little under three centuries of 
culture. Clusius describes the flowers as more or less pink 
externally, and reddish within, with five longitudinal stripes of 
green, as is often seen at the present time. He compares the 
odor of the flower with that of the lime. Clusius asserts that 
the species had been introduced into Italy from Spain or 
America, and expresses surprise that, although the plant had 
become so common in Italy that it was eaten like a turnip and 
fed to the pigs, yet the learned men of Padua only became 
acquainted with it by means of the tuber which he sent them. 
It is, however, questionable if the potato was so widely culti- 
vated in Italy at this time as Clusius asserts, but he quotes 
Father Magazzini, of Vallombrosa, whose posthumous work, 

* Some authorities say 1598. 



INTRODUCTION. II 

published in 1623, mentions the species as one previously 
brought, without naming the date, from Spain or Portugal, by 
barefooted friars.* 

There can, we think, be little doubt but that the Spaniards 
introduced the tubers into Spain, from whence they were 
carried into Italy, to the Netherlands, Lorraine, Switzerland 
and Germany. According to MM. Vilmorin-Andrieux, the 
potato did not become common in the central and northern 
districts of France until after Parmentier's labors made known 
'its true value as a source of food supply. 

The date of the introduction of the potato into the British 
Isles has been a subject of much discussion, but it is very 
generally believed that the first specimens grown in Britain 
were brought from Virginia by colonists sent out by Sir Walter 
Raleigh in 1584, who returned in 1586. 

Humboldt supposed that the cultivation of the tuber in Vir- 
ginia, where it was known to the early colonists, must have 
been originally received from the Spanish colonies at the south. 
De Candolle (''Origin of Cultivated Plants" ) is of the im- 
pression that the potato was introduced into that part of the 
United States now known as Virginia and the Carolinas in the 
early part of the sixteenth century. In his opinion the potato 
could scarcely have been introduced into Virginia or Carolina 
in Sir Walter Raleigh's time unless the ancient Mexicans had 
possessed it, and its cultivation had been diffused among the 
aborigines to the north of Mexico. 

I De Candolle says ("Origin of Cultivated Plants,"), " Dr. 
IRowlon, who carefully studied the works on North America, 
.has assured me that he has found no signs of the potato 
in the United States before the arrival of the Europeans. Dr. 
|A.sa Gray also told me, adding that Mr. Harris, one of the 
Anen most intimately acquainted with the language of the 

* De Candolle : " Origin of Cultivated Plants." 



12 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

North American tribes, was of the same opinion. And," con- 
tinues De CandoUe, '* I have read nothing to the contrary in 
recent publications, and we must not forget that a plant so 
easy of cultivation would have spread itself, even among 
nomadic tribes, had they possessed it. It seems to me most 
likely that some inhabitants of Virginia, — perhaps the English 
colonists, — received tubers from Spanish or other travelers, 
traders or adventurers, during the ninety years which had 
elapsed since the discovery of America. Evidently, dating 
from the conquest of Peru and Chili in 1535 to 1585, many 
vessels could have carried tubers of the potato as provisions, 
and Sir Walter Raleigh, making war on the Spaniards as a 
privateer, may have pillaged some vessel which contained 
them. This is the less improbable, since the Spaniards had 
introduced the plant into Europe before 1585." 

Thomas Herriot, who accompanied Sir Walter Raleigh in 
several voyages, brought the first potatoes into Britain in 1586. 
They were planted on Sir Walter's estate near Cork, and were 
used for food in Ireland long before they were even known in 
England. 

In some French works Parmentier is credited with having 
introduced the potato to Europeans, but his part in the matter 
was simply that of an enthusiast, who rendered its cultivation 
more popular. 

In the time of James I (15 66- 1625) potatoes were so rare 
in England as to cost two shillings (sterling) a pound, and are 
mentioned in 16 19 among the supplies provided for the royal 
household. In 1633 their value as food had become more 
generally known, and they were deemed worthy of notice by 
the Royal Society, which encouraged their cultivation with a 
view to the prevention of famine; but it was not until nearly 
a century later that measures were taken which led to their ex- 
tensive culture in English husbandry. 



CHAPTER II. 

SOIL AND PREPARATION. 

If the land is properly prepared a great variety of soils may 
be used for potato growing — clay, sandy loam, or deep, black 
prairie loam — any well drained soil, — but it must be rich and 
, warm, and made mellow by thorough preparation. The ideal 
j soil for this crop is a friable loam, moderately dry, with good 
I natural or artificial drainage. Low, damp, or soggy land 
< will not produce a good quality of potatoes, and the crop is 
j more liable to be diseased. I always choose high, dry land 
j for this crop, and prefer a light, sandy loam or a loose clay 
1 with a porous subsoil. This is of the greatest importance in 

I determining the quality as well as the quantity of the crop. 

I I have always found a porous or open subsoil the best. It 
, will not only thoroughly drain the upper soil during and after 

a wet spell, but the land will the better withstand a long con- 
tinued drought, supplying soil moisture from below at a time 
when the crop most needs it. This has never been more 

I fully exemplified than during the past few excessively hot 
and dry seasons in Iowa. 

Do not undertake to raise potatoes on heavy soil unless it 
has first been underdrained. Fortunately this is often feasible. 
Too much care cannot be taken in the preparation of the soil. 
I believe that fully one-half of the crop is often sacrificed by 
careless preparation of the land. Even the best farmers, when 
over-rushed with work at planting time, are tempted to slight 

[the work with the hope of making up for the neglect in after 
cultivation. This, however, can never be done. After the 

13 



14 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 



land is once planted it can never be stirred directly under the 
hills, where there is the most need of perfect tilth. 

The land should be deeply plowed, care being taken that 




there are no breaks in the plowing. No wider furrow than 
the plow is made to cut should be made, and it is best not to 
put the plow to its full capacity if thorough work is wanted. 
After the land has been broken it should be thoroughly pul- 



SOIL AND PREPARATION. 1 5 

verized, either with a disk harrow, a cutaway or some other 
good tool. In my own work I have never found a tool that 
will do this work so well as the Acme Pulverizing Harrow. 
With this implement no other harrow is needed in preparing 
the soil for a crop. It crushes the clods, cuts, turns and pul- 
verizes the soil, smoothing the surface and leaving the trash 
buried where left by the plow. But whatever tool may be 
used, go over and over the land. It cannot be made too fine, 
and the extra work will be amply compensated for, and will 
show in the after culture and increase of crop. 



CHAPTER III. 
MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 

1.— MANURES. 

I have had but little experience with chemical fertilizers, 
simply because I have lived and farmed. for thirty-five years in 
fertile Iowa. We have had new land at hand in generous sup- 
ply for our potato crop, or could bring back our soil to almost, 
if not quite, its original fertility by simply seeding down to 
clover, and with the use of farmyard manure, which could be 
had for the hauling. A good plan is to compost the accumu- 
lated stable manure of the previous season with such refuse 
materials as may be at hand, and at our convenience in the 
fall to spread it on the clover sod. It should be evenly dis- 
tributed over the surface to be plowed under the next spring. 
It does not pay to put manure in the hill or drill in large 
field culture. Fresh manure made during the winter and 
spring should not be used. In my experience the rotted 
manure of a previous season is always the best. 

The day is near at hand when I think it will pay every 
potato grower to use chemical manures. The chief drawback 
with the western cultivator heretofore has been the distance 
these fertilizers have had to be shipped, as most of those of 
acknowledged merit were manufactured in the East. Again, 
the markets of the West for potatoes have not been so stable 
as those of the East ; the price has often fluctuated so greatly 
as to change the result from profit to one' of actual loss; the 
grower could not figure with any degree of certainty what he 

i6 



MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 1 7 

could afford to j^ay for fertilizers, even though he knew just 
what increase of crop to credit to their use. 

But these conditions are rapidly changing. Increased 
railway and water transportation facilities each year bring us 
in closer competition with our eastern brothers, while fertilizer 
factories are springing into existence in many of our larger 
western cities. Vast quantities of crude materials which were 
formerly shipped to the East to be made up into fertilizers 
are now being utilized at home. 

Every year our lands are growing older and less able to stand 
the drain upon their fertility. Farmers who have been burn- 

I ing their straw and allowing the stable manure to be washed 
down our rivers and creeks, are learning, to their sorrow, the 

I folly of so wasteful and improvident a system of farming. 



II.— CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 

1 An average crop of potatoes removes from the soil of one 

acre about 119 pounds of nitrogen, 55 pounds of phosphoric 
; acid, and 192 pounds of potash. If we formulate a fertilizer 
I on this basis, which is that indicated by analysis of the plant, — 
I roots, stalks, leaves, stems and tubers, — the ratio of fertilizing 

constituents would be about two parts of nitrogen to one part 
I of phosphoric acid to three parts of potash. But experience 
j in the field, especially with soils that have been long under 

cultivation, indicates that a well balanced potato fertilizer 

should contain a slight excess of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, 

and potash, over these quantities. 

Theoretically, a complete potato fertilizer should contain, in 

soluble forms, about six per cent, of nitrogen, three per cent. 

of phosphoric acid, and ten per cent, of potash. But gen- 
\ erally in practice six per cent, of nitrogen, five to six per cent. 

of phosphoric acid, and from eight to ten per cent, of potash, 

will provide a better balanced mixture. 



1 8 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

Now how shall we get this mixture in the best forms of raw 
materials and at the lowest cost to the farmer? Experience 
has taught us that the potato, like many other plants, seems to 
thrive best on particular forms of food, even under the most 
favorable conditions of soil and season. Thus we find nitro- 
gen in the forms of nitrate of soda and dried blood especially 
favorable to its growth ; phosphoric acid in dissolved bone- 
black, and potash as high-grade sulphate and wood ashes 
seem better forms of the latter than kainit or muriate of 
potash. 

Let us decide to have a special, high-grade, complete fer- 
tihzer containing six per cent, of nitrogen, five per cent, of 
available phosphoric acid, and ten per cent, of potash. Now, 
it is obvious that the number of pounds of nitrogen, phos- 
phoric acid, and potash contained in one ton (2000 pounds) 
of fertilizer is to be ascertained by multiplying one ton (2000 
pounds) by the percentage of each fertilizing constituent ; thus : 

2000 pounds X -06 = 120.00 pounds of nitrogen, 

2000 " X -05 = 100.00 " '* phosphoric acid, 

2000 '* X -10 = 200.00 " " potash. 

In selecting our nitrogen we should like to have it in the 
three forms of nitric acid, ammonia, and organic nitrogen. 
The cheapest source of the first of these forms is the familiar 
nitrate of soda of commerce. Sulphate of ammonia furnishes a 
highly concentrated ammonium salt for the second form ; this 
salt is very largely used in the manufacture of chemical 
manures. It resembles common salt in appearance, and is not 
so liable to form hard lumps as is the case with nitrate of soda. 

Organic nitrogen maybe had in many animal and vegetable 
waste products. Some forms of organic nitrogen, like dried 
blood, meat and fish scrap, tankage, cotton seed meal, or 
castor pomace, are very active and valuable fertilizers, while 
others, like horn, hoof, hair, and leather, are so slow in their 



MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. I9 

action as to be practically inert when used for quick-growing 
crops. 

In a well-prepared fertilizer it is desirable to have nitrogen 
in these three forms, that is as 7iitric, ammoniac, and organic 
nitrogen, or if one of these is inadmissible because of scarcity 
or high price, then two of the forms should be selected. Sul- 
phate of ammonia sometimes gets so high that its use is not 
warranted in agriculture; farmers can buy nitrogen much 
cheaper in other forms which we regard as fully equal to am- 
monia salts. 

"What," we may ask, ''does the market afford as an 
economical source of nitrogen for the potato crop? " 

At all times there is an abundance of such materials, and a 
little intelligent inquiry is all that is necessary to bring them 
to light. Dried blood and meat scrap contain from lo to 
11.50 per cent, of nitrogen. Dried fish scrap seven to eight 
per cent., castor pomace five per cent., and cotton seed meal 
over six per cent, of nitrogen. 

Nitrogen in fine ground, dried meat, dried blood and fish, 
we believe to be of equal value with ammoniac nitrogen. Sir 
J. B. Lawes and Professor S. W. Johnson place a higher value 

I on nitric nitrogen than on the nitrogen of ammonia, and we 

I believe this will be the final decision of chemists. 

' We know that nitrate of soda and dried blood are both 

I excellent sources of nitrogen for our crop, and we decide to 
take our 120 pounds of nitrogen in equal parts from these 

I two sources of supply. Commercial nitrate of soda (96 per 
cent.) contains 15.81 per cent, of nitrogen, and dried blood 

1 contains about 10.50 per cent, of nitrogen. We will take this 
element in about equal proportions from both materials; 
therefore, to obtain 60 pounds of nitrogen from each of these 

'sources it will take as many hundred pounds of nitrate of soda 
as 15.81 is contained in 60, and as many hundred pounds of 



20 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

dried blood as 10.50 is contained in 60. Hence we have — 

60 -=- O.1581 = 379 pounds nitrate soda, 
60 -=- 0.1050 = 570 " dried blood. 

We will take the phosphoric acid from dissolved bone-black, 
which contains about 17 percent, of available phosphoric acid. 
To obtain the 100 pounds of phosphoric acid we require — 

100 -T- o. 17 =r 588 pounds. 

The most desirable of the Stassfurt potash salts for potatoes 
is the high-grade sulphate. We will take our 200 pounds of 
potash from 90 per cent, sulphate which contains 48.60 per 
cent, of actual potash. 

200 -=- 0.4860 =: 411 pounds. 

Now we have the required quantities for our mixture which 
stands thus : — 

Nitrate soda, 379 pounds 

Dried blood, 570 " 

Dissolved bone-black, 588 " 

Sulphate potash (90 per cent.), 41 1 " 

Total, . , 1948 " 

But the aggregate number of pounds falls short of one ton 
(2000 pounds). We may make up this deficiency by adding 
52 pounds of sand, land plaster, or other materials, or we may 
slightly increase the quantities without materially altering the 
ratios of fertilizing constituents. 

Suppose we take — 

Nitrate soda 380 pounds * 

Dried blood, 575 <' 

Dissolved bone-black, 625 " 

Sulphate potash, (90 per cent.), 420 " 

Total, 2000 *♦ 



MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 

Now let us tabulate results : — 



21 





Materials. 


z 

w 


as 
H 


Phosphoric 


Acid. 


i 


1 


Avail- 
able. 


Insol- 
uble. 


Total. 


< 


380 
575 
625 
420 


Nitrate Soda, 

Dried Blood, 

Dissolved Bone-black 

Sulphale Potash (90 per cent.), 

Total quantities in one ton, . 


lbs. 
60.07 
60.37 


lbs. 
104.37 


lbs. 


lbs. 

10.98 
106.24 


lbs. 

204.12 


2000 


120.44 
6.00 


104.37 

5-21 


1. 87 
0.09 


117.22 
5.86 


204.12 









The approximate cost of these materials in such trade 
centers as New York and Philadelphia can be made by allow- 
ing 14)^ cents per pound for nitrogen in nitrate of soda, i8}^ 
cents per pound for nitrogen in dried blood, six cents per 
pound for available, and two cents per pound for insoluble 
phosphoric acid, and five cents per pound for potash in 90 
per cent, sulphate. Thus we have — 

60.07 pounds nitrogen from nitrate of soda at 1^% = ^ 8.71 
60.37 " " " dried blood at 18 J/^ = II. 16 

104.37 " available phosphoric acid at .06 = 6.26 

12.85 " insoluble' " *' at .02 = .26 

204.12 " potash from 90 percent, sulphate at .05 1= 10.20 

'^36. 59 

To this should be added the cost of freight and mixing. In 

I the foregoing formula we have the nitrogen in nitric acid and 

organic nitrogen. In our next formula, which the writer has 

' used with uniform success for potatoes, we have the nitrogen in 

the three forms of nitric acid, ammonia, and organic nitrogen. 

Nitrate of soda, 260 pounds 

. Sulphate of ammonia, 200 

Dried blood, 380 '^^' 

Dissolved bone-black, .... 3°*^ 

Dissolved S. C. rock, 420 " 

Muriate of potash (80 per cent.) 

Sulphateof potash (80 per cent.), 



200 
240 



2000 pounds 



22 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 



Now let us examine this mixture and see wherein it is 
especially adapted to potatoes. 



i 


Materials. 




Phosphoric Acid. 


i 


z 

D 

O 

Oh 


Avail- 
able. 


Insol- 
uble. 


Total. 


< 


260 
200 

420 
200 
240 


Nitrate Soda 

Sulphate Ammonia, 

Dried Blood 


lbs. 
41.10 
41.00 
39-90 

. . . 

. . . 


50.10 
50.50 


lbs. 

7-25 

90 

1344 


lbs. 

7.25 
5. .00 
63.94 


lbs. 


Dissolved Bone-black, .... 

Dissolved S. C. Rock 

Muriate Potash (So per cent.), 
Sulphate Potash (80 per cent.), 

Total quantities in one ton, . 


101.04 
103.60 


2000 


122.00 
6.10 


100.60 
5-03 


21.59 
1.07 


122.19 
6 10 


204.64 
10.23 







We perceive the formula contains nitric, ammoniac, and 
organic nitrogen in nearly equal proportions taken from three 
sources of supply. Our available phosphoric acid is evenly 
divided between dissolved bone-black and dissolved South 
Carolina rock; in addition to this we have 1.07 per cent, of 
insoluble phosphoric acid, making the total phosphoric acid 
6.10 per cent., and the potash is divided between 80 per 
cent, muriate and 80 per cent, sulphate. 

OTHER FERTILIZERS FOR POTATOES. 

1. Nitrate soda, 400 pounds. 

Sulphate ammonia, 300 " 

Dissolved bone-black 600 " 

Sulphate potash (80 per cent.), .... 480 " 
Land plaster, sand, or loam, 220 " 

Contains 6.22 per cent, nitrogen, 5.01 per cent, available 
phosphoric acid, and 10.36 per cent, potash. 

On clover sod plowed under. 

2. Nitrate soda, 300 pounds. 

Dissolved S. C. rock, 1220 ** 

Sulphate potash, (80 per cent.), . . . 480 " 

2000 " 



MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 23 

This mixture contains 2.37 per cent, of nitrogen, 7.32 per 
cent, available phosphoric acid, and 10.36 per cent, of potash. 

3. Farmyard manure, lo tons. 

Nitrate of soda, loo pounds. 

Sulphate of ammonia, .... . 100 " 

Dissolved S. C. rock, 600 " 

Muriate of potash, 200 " 



CHAPTER IV. 

PLANTING. 

The selection of seed is one of the most important steps 
in growing a crop of potatoes. I always prefer medium-sized 
tubers for seed. Very large potatoes are liable to produce a 
coarse, rough crop, while, on the other hand, small seed maybe 
immature, and with it there is a tendency to deterioration. 
Always select as near as possible perfectly formed potatoes, 
free from disease. 

In cutting the tubers, care should be taken to divide 
the eyes evenly and to bruise the seed as little as possible. 

In case of scarcity, new, rare, or 
high-priced varieties, I always 
cut by hand, using a concave- 
curved knife with a very thin blade 
(Fig. 2) ; then take the tuber in 

0~k V'^'^'/ ..^!^-l^/^^=^ ^^^^ ^^^^ hand, begin at the bottom 
'*^ "' ^^^^ or stem end and cut toward the 
^^ center and down in the direction 
of the stem, following the growth 
of the germ, and taking but a single 
eye. The tuber is then turned half way around, or to the 
opposite side, and the process repeated until the seed or blow 
end is reached, leaving to each eye enough of the tuber to 
sustain the plant until well rooted in the soil. 

In oidinary field culture, where I have plenty of seed, the 
Aspinwall Potato Cutter is used with complete success. 
This implement not only divides the eyes more evenly, but 

24 




PLANTING. 



25 



leaves them in better shape for planting than the average 
hired help, and performs the work as fast as six or eight men 
can do it by hand. The only attention necessary is to be 
sure to place the seed end toward the person manipulating 
the machine. I have always had a perfect stand from seed cut 
in this way if properly planted. 
After thirty-five years* experi- 
ence in potato culture, and after 
having tried almost every con- 
ceivable experiment, both wise 
and otherwise, in seed selection 
and planting ; having planted 
all the way from a single eye up 
to a whole potato: after having 
planted in hills and in drills and 
at various distances ; after keep- 
ing minute records of successes 





-^y 



Fig. 



Fig. 4. 



Aspinwall Potato Cutter. 



■and failures, I am fully convinced that the average grower 
jplants too much seed. I have almost invariably met with the 
largest share of success from the lightest plantings, not only in 
jthe weight of crop, but in the greater yield of marketable tubers 
as compared with the whole crop. Were it always possible 
without too much outlay of labor, I would invariably confine 
jplanting to a single eye to the hill ; but when large areas are 
lanted and the planter must be used, a two- or three-eyed 



26 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

piece is best, since it insures a full stand with greater cer- 
tainty. 

Time of Planting. — This depends upon the variety and 
purpose for which the crop is planted. If for early market, we 
should choose the earliest and hardiest varieties, which should 
be planted in spring as soon as the land can be got into 
good condition. Planting should be somewhat shallow, so as 
to avoid rot in case of a cold, wet spell, and to afford ample 
time for growth before the hot, dry weather of summer. 
Potatoes delight in cool, moist weather. 

If the crop is for seed alone, and is to be stored over winter, 
some varieties yield and keep better if planted later, so as to 
ripen during cool autumn weather, thus avoiding much shrink- 
age consequent upon lying in the ground during the dry hot 
time between ripening and storing crop. For the later or main 
crop I prefer putting off planting until about June ist, as by 
doing so the work of fighting destructive insects is greatly 
lessened. With the pulverizer or harrow the larvoe of trouble- 
some insects are so much more readily killed ; with the larger 
tools of culture often ten or twenty acres being gone over in 
a day. Here in Iowa potatoes planted from the first to fif- 
teenth of June make almost their entire growth of tubers dur- 
ing the cool, moist weather of fall, and are ready for harvesting 
almost as soon as growth is completed, thus insuring a larger 
and better crop of finer flavored potatoes with the least possible 
loss from shrinkage; and as they then make a more rapid 
and rugged growth are less liable to disease. 

Distance Apart. — For the past fifteen years I have ac- 
cepted three feet as the proper distance between rows. This 
gives ample space for the growth of tubers and for proper 
tillage, and leaves plenty of soil for hilling without running too 
deeply, thereby avoiding injury to the roots by cultivation. 

With the latest improved tools, especially the Planet Jr. 
implements, the entire surface of the soil can be worked by 



PLANTING. 



27 



a single passage between rows, thus making one horse do the 
work usually done by two. There is ample space to destroy 
weeds should the crop from any cause become foul, and the 
rows are also near enough to each other to enable most varie- 
ties to cover and shade the ground during the later stages of 
growth. 

This distance is also about right for machine digging, allow- 
ing each wheel of the digger to run in the furrow made in 
hilling. For over twenty years I have planted no other way 
than by drilling. I believe this mode gives each individual 
eye a better chance for growth. 

Regarding the distance apart the seed is placed much depends 
upon the habit of growth of the variety to be planted; if 
small and compact in growth, like the Early Six Weeks, Early 
Rose, Ohio Junior, or Puritan, much less room is required 
'than with the spreading varieties. With the earlier varieties, 
1 12 to 15 inches apart will be found about right, and with 
imost varieties, such as Burpee's Extra Early or Beauty of 
Hebron, the latter distance will be found none too much. 
; For late varieties 15 to 18 inches, and sometimes 20 inches 
japart should be allowed. The quality and condition of the 
Isoil should also be taken into consideration ; a rich mellow 
jsoil free from weeds will, of course, be the best, and admit, 
jOther things being equal, of closer planting. 
j Depth of Planting. — This must also be gauged somewhat 
|by the variety, time of planting, and habits of growth. Early 
varieties should be planted shallow. Early in the spring the 
jground is warmer near the surface, and the seed will be less 
liable to rot and will germinate more quickly. Most of the 
growth must be made during the cool, early spring months, 
'J^efore hot, dry summer weather comes. I have found a depth 
of about two inches right for early varieties, while with later 
bnes, which must be kept thrifty during the long hot and dry 
ipells of summer, a depth of from four to five inches is best. 



28 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 



Planting, since the advent of the Aspinwall Potato Planter, 
has changed from drudgery to pleasure. Now instead of two 
men and a team working hard all day to plant one or two 




acres, one has but to adjust his pickers so as to drop at the 
proper distance, fill the hopper with seed and proceed with 



PLANTING. 20 

the planting, easily going over from four to eight acres a day, 
making straighter rows than could be done in the old way, 
and dropping the seed at a uniform depth and distance apart. 
One great advantage over hand-planting is that the planter 
opens the furrow, drops the seed into fresh earth and imme- 
diately covers it without exposing seed or furrow to wind 
and sun. The only fault one can find with the Aspinwall 
Planter is that the seed-pieces have to be cut somewhat 
larger than for hand-planting ; but as a two- or three-eye piece 
is thus dropped, this is a trifling loss except where seed is very 
scarce and high, as is the case with the newer varieties. In 
|such cases I take off the guard in front of the pickers, which 
•are removed, place a tube from the shoe to the level with the 
seat, fasten a box for seed in front, and then put on a boy to 
idrive, placing a temporary seat over the hopper. But one 
can drop through the tube by hand, the machine opening the 
'furrow and covering the seed the same as when doing its own 
^dropping. 

We are often asked the question, '' Can you raise as large 
trops when put in with the planter as when planted by hand?" 
pur answer is, *' Yes, only it takes a trifle more seed." 
. Many potato growers take an old corn planter, remove the 
jbox that holds the corn, and insert in its place tubes, either 
bf wood or tin, somewhat enlarged at the top, and large 
(enough to let the seed pass down easily. 
\ Two lively boys are placed on a seat where the corn dropper 

brmerly sat and, with their backs to each other, drop the seed 

venly. 
The small grower cannot always hire a planter, and his 

.creage will not warrant the purchase of such a machine. If 

he old way of planting is not the easiest, it is at leastsafe, and 
i often think the best in many respects, especially vv'here we 
|vish to improve old or develop new varieties. In such cases, 
in all the operations of the farm, good tools are needed, for 



3° 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 



while a common plow will do if nothing better is at hand,} 

yet a Planet Jr. Fur- 
rower, Marker, Kil- 
ler, and Ridger com^* 
bined, as shown in, 
Fig. 6 for marking 
out, and as in Fig. 7 




for 



covering, 



will 



Planet Jr. Furrovvi 



be found very con- 
venient. This new 
tool is shown in the 
illustrations. The 
wings are adjustable from nearly perpendicular to nearly hori- 
zontal, or they may be removed entirely. The tool with lever 
runners moves steadily and is easily managed. The runners 
are adjustable both 
for depth and width. 
The marker is light 
and handy ; it makes 
a wide, clear mark 
either on hard, dry 
ground or on new 
plowed land. For 
covering and ridg- 
ing, the adjustable 
wing plows, shown in the cut (Fig. 7), or the ordinary side 
hoes are used. It is a capital hiller, and by taking off all the 
wings it hills less and works to fine advantage as a double 
plow. 

It has always seemed strange to me that the harrow is so 
little used by the average farmer in the early cultivation of 
growing crops, especially before the crop breaks through the 
ground. It is the exception rather than the rule to see the 
land touched with any tool for killing weeds until the crop is 




Fig. 7.— Covercr and Ridger. 



PLANTING. -J 

several inches high. I have always found that the very best 
time to kill weeds is when they are young, in fact, before they 
get above the ground. Many a farmer waits until weeds have 
made considerable root growth, indeed, often approaching a 
sod, before starting the cultivator, and then he only kills one 
row at a time, while with a good team and light harrow he 
could have gone over from four to six times as much land. 



CHAPTER V. 
CULTIVATION. 

In a few days after planting we start cultivation, using a 
large twelve- foot lever harrow, setting the teeth but a trifle 
slanting at first, and give the ground a thorough harrowing. 
After a few days, simply waiting to let the weed seeds germi- 
nate, we go over with the harrow again, giving the teeth 
more slant so as to run shallow and not to break off the tender 
sprouts that may be coming up. 

We often give three harrowings before the potatoes are j 
fairly up, and as soon as they are two or three inches high go 
over the field again, keeping the harrow teeth perfectly clean 
and free from trash. Should the ground be inclined to bake, 
or if the weeds begin to grow, turn round and cross the field, 
and do not give up the work until the ground is perfectly 
level and the soil very fine. Don't be afraid of harrowing 
too much if you have a good harrow. There are many har- 
rows now on the market, but a good lever harrow is so far 
superior to the old standing-tooth or smoothing harrow that 
we would have no other. The teeth of the smoothing harrow 
do not always need to be set at the same slant ; where there is 
nothing to interfere we set the teeth pretty straight, and in 
that way can root up more weeds, but where there is anything 
in the w^ay, in the shape of trash, we give the teeth more slant 
so as not to injure the young vines or to disturb the roots un- 
duly in going over the field. The condition of the soil must 
guide us in finding the proper slant of the teeth. If the 
object is to smooth and pulverize, set the teeth very slanting. 

32 



CULTIVATION. 



33 



In our work we have found the lever harrow represented in 
Fig. 8 about the best shape for use and wear, and at the same 
time it is durable and light. If 
there are no stalks or other trash 
to interfere, I begin cultivation 
with a Planet Jr. Twelve-tooth 
Cultivator with Pulverizer (Fig. 
9). The blades of this implement 
are an inch wide, and are of such 
shape as to work in the most 
thoroughly satisfactory manner, 
and to offer an unusual amount 
of wearing surface. The recurved 
throat of the tooth and the hich 
frame prevent clogging. The re- 
verse position is quickly given to 
the teeth by changing a single bolt 
in each ; the frame is heavy and 
strong. 

I set this implement wide so as 
to run as near as possible to the 
rows, and follow the cultivator with 
an Improved Zephaniah Breed 
Weeder (Fig. 10), using the eight- 
foot size, which with the horse 
walking between rows takes two 
rows at once. This thoroughly 
loosens the ground around the hills, 
turning and rooting out all young 
grass and weeds that may have 
ptarted. Three or four cultiva- 
dons, always followed with the 
j-veeder, will keep the ground perfectly clean and very 
loose and mellow around the hills. This culture encour- 




34 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 



ages a rapid growth, entirely dispensing with the use of the 
hoe. 

If at any time the ground becomes foul or hard, I take a 

Planet Jr. Horse 
Hoe (Fig. II), using 
first 2^ -inch shov- 
els for front and 
outside rear stand- 
ard, and three-inch 
shovels on central 
rtar standard. Set 
the wheel, which is 
easily adjusted by 
a lever, so as to run only deep enough to thoroughly break 
up the crust, loosening the soil and turning up the weeds. 
By holding the tool perfectly level so that all the shovels 
take the same depth, the rear shovels, if set at proper width, 




-^■s^S^^^i^^; 



Fig. 9.— Planet Jr. Twelve-tooth Harrow, Cultivator, 
and Pulverizer. 




'^^ll^^^^i^i 



Fig, 10. — Improved Zephaniah Breed Weeder. 



will throw considerable dirt into the potato row; following 
with the weeder, that all weeds in the row may be killed and 
ground loosened around the haulms. I always try to give 
my potatoes, whether weedy or not, at least four cultiva- 



I 



CULTIVATION. 



35 



tions and at least three with the weeder, but always work the 
crop as shallow as is possible consistent with thorough pul- 




\ verization of the soil and with the complete destruction of 

' weeds. If this work is done properly the ground must be in 

good condition, and the tops covering the ground in the rows 



36 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 



will extend well out toward the center of the intervening 
space between the rows. 




I now change my tactics by taking off the three rear steels 
of my horse hoe and putting on in their place two hillers, 
turning the standards so as to throw the dirt toward the row ; 



CULTIVATION. 



37 



now place an eight-inch shovel on the rear standard and you 
have the tool set for hilling (Fig. 12). You will notice that 
the outside steels or hillers run very shallow on the outside 
near the row, scarcely half an inch deep, the inside ones only 
from i}{ to two inches deep, while the central shovel at the 
rear follows at a trifle greater depth, thus moving the dirt from 
the center of the row toward the potatoes, and slightly lifting 
the earth places it around the haulms without bruising or 
covering any of the leaves. If the work is properly done you 
now have a perfectly clear field with a broad, low hill, which 
has been made without disturbing the roots, enabling the 
tubers to make a sturdy, rapid growth without check. The 
drier the season and the shallower the cultivation the oftener 
should the soil be stirred. Do not let the ground get hard or 
give the weeds a chance, but keep the earth loose and mellow. 
No crop responds more readily to timely, well-directed 
labor than the potato, and none suffers more from neglect. 



CHAPTER VI. 
INSECT ENEMIES. 

The chief insect depredator with which the potato grower 
has to contend is the familiar Colorado Potato Beetle {^Dory- 
phora deceinlineata). There are, however, several other 
insects, which at times and in some parts of the United 
States prove quite destructive to potatoes. Among these are 
the Potato or Tomato Worm, several species of Blister-Beetles, 
the Potato Stalk- Weevil, and the Imbricated Snout-Beetle. 

The Colorado Potato Beetle i^Doryphora decemlincata). 
— This insect needs no description here. The eggs, which are 
from a light yellow to deep orange color, are laid in varying 
numbers from 12 to 50, on the under side of the potato 
leaf, where they hatch in about one week into sluggish larvae 
which feed upon the leaves. Paris green and London purple 
are used almost universally for combating this pest. These 
poisons may be applied in liquid suspension, or in powder 
diluted, one part of poison to 50 parts by weight of flour, 
sifted road dust, ashes, or with 100 parts of land plaster. The 
poison may be dusted over the foliage with a powder gun or 
perforated can, or in suspension may be applied with a hand- 
or horse-power spraying machine. In gardens or small 
patches the ordinary watering pot with a fine rose or a knapsack 
sprayer will prove efficient. 

One of the most recent inventions is the Leggitt Dry Powder 
Gun, which seems to do the work of distribution fast and well 
over all parts of the plant. Many claim that a fast walking 
man can apply the powder to an acre in one hour without 



INSECT ENEMIES. 



39 



undue exertion, and at the same lime, it is claimed, the work 
is better done than with sifting or spraying appliances. 

A new and important discovery announced during the pres- 
ent year is the use of arsenate of lead as an insecticide. The 
advantages of this poison over Paris green and London purple 
were first made known by Mr. F. C. Moulton, of the Massa- 
chusetts Gipsy Moth Commission. This insecticide promises 
to be especially useful in treating the foliage of the potato as 




Fig. 13.— Colorado Potato-Beetle, a, a. Eggs, b, b. Larvae, c. Pupa. 
d, d. Beetles, e. Wing of beetle, magnified. {Riley.) 



well as that of more tender plants, since it lacks the caustic 
action of Paris green and London purple. 

The preparation was made by dissolving 11 ounces of 
acetate of lead and four ounces of arsenate of soda in 150 gal- 
ilons of water. 

' These substances quickly dissolve and one of the chemical 
compounds formed is arsenate of lead, which is a fine, white 
(powder, lighter than Paris green and fully as effective in 



40 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

destroying insect life. But it is preferable to Paris green for 
other reasons ; if by any means the mixture happens to be 
used stronger than is necessary, even though three or four 
times the strength required to kill insects, it does not injure 
the foliage of plants. Frequently in using Paris green on 
potatoes much injury results from the poison burning the 
foliage. The liability of using too much, or of the poison not 
being well held in suspension, is one great objection to the use 
of Paris green. Arsenate of lead is a much lighter poison and 
does not settle so readily, and consequently can be distributed 
more evenly over foliage ; with it this danger is practically 
reduced to nothing. 

Professor C. H. Fernald, of the Hatch (Mass.) Experiment 
Station, advises that two quarts of glucose, or if it cannot be 
obtained, then two quarts of cheap molasses be added to each 
150 gallons of water used. He says of experiments in 1893 : 
" This insecticide will remain upon foliage for a long time, 
even after heavy rains." 

Acetate of lead and arsenate of soda are both poisons, and 
in handling them the same caution should be exercised as is 
taken with Paris green and other arsenical compounds. 

The Potato or Tomato Worm {Phlegethontius celeus). 
— The parent of this pest is a beautiful sphinx moth nearly re- 
lated to the Carolina Tobacco Sphinx {Phlegethoniius Caro- 
lina). This insect is of northern distribution, and is perhaps" 
more destructive to the tomato than the potato. It is the 
tobacco worm of northern latitudes, and was formerly con- 
founded with its southern relative, FhlegethoJitius Carolina. 

Both moths have orange-colored spots on the sides of the 
abdomen, but in the wing markings there are perceptible dif- 
ferences. In the present species the general color of the body 
and wings in the adult is grayish, marked by stripes and dots 
in graduated shades of grayish brown, with a faint white spot 
near the center of each front wing. 



INSECT ExVEMIES. 



41 




42 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

The moths fly about dusk, lapping up the nectar of flowers 
through their long, slender sucking tubes or tongues. The 
adults appear early in the summer, and the females lay their 
eggs in the evening on the leaves of the potato and tomato. 

The worm or caterpillar is a voracious feeder and soon 
makes its presence known by stripping the stems of foliage 
and by the abundant castings on the ground below. 

The caterpillars grow rapidly and in a few weeks are about 
three inches long and of the thickness of a man's little finger. 
Their color is light green or brown, with oblique, whitish 
stripes on the sides of the body. When full grown, which, in 
the Northern States, is early in September, the caterpillars re- 
hire to the earth, where they make oval cells some distance 
below the surface and transform to pupae, in which condition 
they remain until the following summer, when they come forth 
as moths. 

The caterpillar is subject to the attacks of a small parasitic, 
four-winged, black fly, which deposits its eggs within the 
worm. These eggs hatch into little maggots which feed upon 
the juices of the body, developing at the expense of the worm. 
Caterpillars infested by this parasite may be readily known by 
their emaciated appearance and the little, egg-shaped cocoons 
of white silk which the larvae spin upon the back of their 
hosts and in which the pupal period of the parasite is passed. 
Such caterpillars should never be destroyed, for, although they 
linger for some time, they will do but little harm and will 
never complete their transformations. The little flies will 
soon emerge and continue the work of destroying the noxious 
species. 

Remedies. — In potato fields, one of the best ways of killing 
the moths is to take shingles or old pieces of tin and nail 
them to strips of wood, which are driven into the ground as 
supports. The pieces of tin or shingles should be supported 
from one to two feet from the surface, and smeared with 



INSECT ENEMIES. 



43 



molasses mixed with a little poisoned water to which some 
whisky or malt liquor has been added. The damages done by 
the potato or tomato worm are by no means so formidable as 
formerly. The universal use of poison on the foliage in com- 
bating the Colorado beetle has not been without effect in 
reducing the depredations of this and other leaf-eating insects. 
Blister- Beetles {Meloidce). — Several species of beetles 
belonging to the same family as the Spanish fly of commerce 
attack the potato. Among these are the St7'iped Blister- 
Bectle, the Ash-gray Blister-Beetle, the Black-i-at Blister- 
Beetle, the Black Bllste}-- Beetle, the Margined Blister-Beetle, 
the White Blister-Beetle, and the Spotted Blister-Beetle. 




p'iG. 15. — Striped 
Blister-Beetle. 
(Riley.) 



Fig. 16.— Gray {a) and Black-Rat {b) Blister-Beetles, 
with the Antennae Enlarged. {Riley.) 



The Striped Blister-Beetle {^Epicauta vittata). — It is 
in the adult stage that this insect feeds upon the leaves of the 
potato and occasionally on the foliage of the tomato. It has 
a slender body, marked on the wing cases with black stripes 
alternating with slender lines of yellowish brown. The eggs 
are laid in masses in the ground near the surface ; the larvse 
hatch in about ten days, and at once begin to burrow through 
the soil in search of the eggs of grasshoppers, upon which they 
feed. Dr. Riley says this species prefers most other kinds of 
potato tops to the Peach Blow. 

The Ash-Gray Blister-Beetle {^Lytta cinerea).—Dr. 



44 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

Riley says of this insect: "It attacks not only the potato 
vine, but also the honey locust, and especially the English 
Windsor bean, and I have also found it quite abundant on early 
snap beans. It is very injurious to lucerne, also attacks the 
foliage of the apple tree, and likewise gnaws into the young 
fruit." It is of a uniform ash-gray color, and is the species 
commonly found in the more northern parts of the Northern 
States, where it takes the place of the striped species. 

The Black- Rat Blister-Beetle {Lytta murina')\ the 
Black Blister-Beetle {Lytta alraia) ; the ^Margined Blister- 
Beetle {Lyffa marginata) ; the White Blister-Beetle {Lytta 
alhida) ; and the Spotted Blister-Beetle {Lyffa inaciilatd), all 
at times prove destructive to the potato. 

Roncdics. — These insects are not readily destroyed by Paris 
green, and it is questionable if insects so destructive to more 
injurious species should be molested unless their presence 
seriously threatens a crop. 

''In the extensive beet fields of the West," says Dr. Riley, 
"it is the custom, when these insects are abundant, to send 
men or boys through the field, working with the wind, and 
driving the beetles before them by short 
flights. On the leeward side of the field, 
windrows of hay or straw have been previously 
placed, and into these the beetles are driven 
and then burned." 

The Imbricated Snout Beetle {^EpiccB- 

rus iinbricatiis). — A small silvery- white beetle 

with distinct markings on the back. This 

Fig. 17.— imbri- species fccds on the stems and foliage of many 

tie.^ {Cmnstock') vegetables, including potatoes, beets, radishes, 

onions, beans, and corn. It also attacks the 

fruit and foliage of the apple, cherry, and gooseberry. 

When alarmed the beetles feign death. 

Remedies. — The usual treatment for the Colorado Potato 




INSECT ENEMIES. .- 

45 
Beetle, either in powder or liquid suspension, will be found 
fully efficient in destroying this pest. 

The Potato-Stalk Weevil {^Trichobaris trinotata).—li 
is in the larval stage that this insect is often most destructive 
to potatoes. According to Professor Gillette, 75 per cent, 
of the crop in 1890 was infested by this insect in Iowa. 

The parent is a small snout-beetle of wide geographical dis- 
tribution throughout the United States. 

The female places a single ^gg in a slit about an eighth of 
an inch long, made in a stalk near the ground. 

The eggs soon hatch into small, yellowish-white or whitish 
grubs, that tunnel into the heart of the stalks, burrowing 
i downward toward the roots and causing plants to wither and 
;the premature death of the vines. 

, When fully grown the grubs are a little over one-fourth of 
ian inch long, yellowish-white in color, legless, and the heads 
I have a scaly appearance. 

I In a few weeks the grubs pupate within the stalk below the 
(surface of the soil, and emerge as ash-gray or bluish beetles 
ilate in summer or early in autumn. 

. Remedies. — Poisons are of little avail against the Potato- 
ptalk Weevil. Whenever the presence of the larvse is indi- 
jCated by the wilting and dying of the vines, they should be 
pulled up and burned. Even after harvesting the late crop 
the vines should be burned if the insect has been at work in 
|the field. 



CHAPTER VII. 
FUNGOUS DjSEASES. 

Potato Scab {Oospof-a scabies). — This disease has been 
attributed to many causes, such as mechanical irritation, 
attacks of insects, excessive moisture, chemical erosion, etc. ; 
but the careful researches of Dr. Thaxter and Professor Bolley 
seem to have settled conclusively the fact that the disease is 
directly due to the development of fungi upon the tuber. The 
patches of thick, brown, cork-like scabs are produced by the 
efforts of the tuber to heal the wound produced by the disease. 

The fungus is identical with that which produces ^(f<f/ 6"^^/^ / 
since the land becomes infected, neither of these crops when 
diseased should succeed each other. 

The spores appear to remain for several years in the soil 
without losing their vitality, and potatoes grown with farm- 
yard manure are more liable to be infected. The infection of 
the manure is unquestionably very generally due to feeding 
stock upon diseased potatoes or beets. 

Treafmefit. — Under most conditions potato scab can be 
very easily controlled. Professor Bolley, whose careful 
researches have been alluded to, says : '' There is no substan- 
tial evidence that any soil of whatever kind can in itself give 
origin to the disease. That certain characters in the soil may 
increase the capabilities of the disease to work damage, is pos- 
sible. This point, however, is not proved, and even if it were, 
it need not militate against the use of any particular kind of 
soil, if care is taken to avoid the first cause, the plant parasite. 
The same argument holds for the use of manures, though it isj 

46 



FUNGOUS DISEASES. a>i 

possible that barnyard manure may become contaminated 
from refuse matter containing the disease, and thus become a 
source of infection." 

And Dr. Thaxter says: ''The practice of feeding scabby 
tubers to stock is one of the most important means by which 
the disease is spread on farms. In view of the well-known fact 
that great numbers of fungous spores can and do pass through 
the digestive tract without injury, and that the scab fungus is 
known to grow luxuriantly in decoctions of horse or cow 
dung, it is not unreasonable to assume that its spores, passing 
through the digestive tracts of stock fed with diseased potatoes, 
^continue their development after evacuation." 
j For the purpose of investigating the comparative merits of 
[fungicides in treating this disease, the New York Experiment 
Station (Bull. 49, January, 1893) made trials with the follow- 
ling preparations : — 
, {a) Copper sulphate (blue stone or blue vitriol). 

(^) Iron sulphate (copperas). 
' (c) Zinc sulphate (white vitriol). 

(d) Eau celeste. 
I (<?) Bordeaux mixture. 
t (/) Mercuric bichloride (corrosive sublimate). 

(g) Ammoniacal solution of copper. 
I The best results were obtained from the use of iron sulphate, 
feinc sulphate, and mercuric bichloride. The formula for either 
j:he iron sulphate or zinc sulphate is one ounce of sulphate to 
pne gallon of water. 

I The mercuric bichloride formula is : '' Dissolve two ounces 
pf corrosive sublimate in two gallons of hot water. Let stand 
jieveral hours, or over night, and then dilute to 15 gallons." 
1 Corrosive sublimate is a very dangerous poison. All seed 
peated with the poisonous solution should be planted, or if 
(my is left over, buried beyond the reach of farm animals. 
i For treating small quantities of seed, barrels or tubs will 



48 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

suffice. For large quantities a narrow box or trough is best. 
After treatment the tubers may be removed from the solution 
with a wooden potato fork. Soak all seed for one and one- 
half hours ; this may be done either before or after cutting the 
seed pieces ; the writer prefers to do the cutting after subject- 
ing the tubers to treatment. After soaking one and one-half 
bushelsof potatoes to each two gallons of solution, about three- 
fourths of the original amount of corrosive sublimate should 
be added, as well as enough water to replace what has been lost 
in removing the treated tubers. Wooden vessels that have 
contained the poisonous solution can be cleansed by thoroughly 
washing with clean water, and then witn water containing a 
little sal soda. 

In using either iron sulphate or zinc sulphate in solution, 
wooden vessels only should be used. 

Blight and Potato Rot. — There are probably several 
maladies to which the potato is subject, which are known as 
''Blight'' and ''Rotr 

The Leaf-Spot Disease or Early Blight {Macrospo- 
rhmi solani) appears early in the season as small brown spots 
or patches scattered over the foliage. The plants change to 
a pale green or yellowish color, and die before completing their 
grov/th. The tubers do not appear to be subject to the infec- 
tion, but owing to the early death of the vines never attain 
maturity. 

The Late Blight or Downy Mildew {Fhy/ophora in- 
festans). — The first appearance of this fungous disease is made 
apparent by the premature wilting of the tops. The color of 
the foliage changes first to a sickly yellow and then to a dirty 
brown ; on the under side of affected leaves is formed a deli- 
cate, whitish growth resembling mildew. 

'' The disease," says Dr. Roland Thaxter, *' spreads quickly, 
inducing a very rapid and characteristic decay in the plants, 
and if not checked, the fungus causing the decay makes its 



FUNGOUS DISEASES. .g 

way to the tubers and affects them, producing the well-known 
'rot.' " 

The conditions which seem most favorable to the develop- 
ment of this malady are excessive rainfall, accompanied by 
an average temperature of below 75° Fahr. 

7>^^/w^;^/. —There can be no doubt of the efficiency of 
I Bordeaux mixture as a preventive of these diseases and pos- 
: sibly of others of bacterial origin. Bordeaux mixture should 
' be used even though there be not the slightest appearance of 
. blight. 

; The Colorado potato beetle must be fought with poison, and 
, by combining the insecticide with Bordeaux mixture the cost 
I of the fungicide is reduced to the mere cost of materials and 
I mixing. The use of the combined insecticide and fungicide 
should begin at the first appearance of the potato beetle, and 
\ at least four sprayings should be made during the season of 
I growth. 

I For the first two sprayings the New York Station (Bull. 49, 

* 1893), recommends that the Bordeaux mixture be reduced to 

,^ one-half the standard strength, and that the last two applica- 

j tions be of full strength. On the other hand, the U. S. 

'I Department of Agriculture obtained as good results with 

I Bordeaux mixture of half strength as with that of full strength. 

The New York Station estimated the cost of four sprayings 

I at ^6.50 per acre. This estimate was based on labor at $1.35 

j per day, the use of about 90 gallons of mixture to the acre, 

|| applied with a knapsack sprayer and Vermorel nozzle, and 

jthe treatment of two acres a day by one man. The increase 

in crop resulting from spraying was 40 bushels. The Rhode 

Island Station (Third Annual Report) increased the yield 48 

per cent., and the Vermont Station (Bull. 24), in 1890, saved 

79 bushels per acre over the unsprayed plots. The cost of 

spraying is variously estimated by others at from ^5.00 to 

;^io.oo per acre, but all experimenters are agreed that the 



50 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

increase in cost due to the use of an insecticide combined 
with Bordeaux mixture is more than amply repaid in the yield 
of the crop ; indeed, many believe that the Bordeaux mixture 
not only prevents rot, but has some obscure value as a fertilizer. 

Bordeaux Mixture. — First. The following is the offi- 
cial formula for Bordeaux Mixture, published in Farmers' 
Bulletin, No. 7, U. S. Department of Agriculture : — 

''In a barrel that will hold 45 gallons, dissolve six pounds 
of copper sulphate, using eight or ten gallons of water, or as 
much as may be necessary for the purpose. In a tub or half 
barrel slake four pounds oi fresh lime. When completely 
slaked, add enough water to make a creamy whitewash. Pour 
this slowly into the barrel containing the copper sulphate solu- 
tion, using a coarse gunny sack stretched over the head of the 
barrel for a strainer. Finally fill the barrel with water, stir 
thoroughly, and the mixture is ready for use. Prepared in 
this way the cost of one gallon of the mixture will not exceed 
one cent, the price of copper sulphate being seven cents per 
pound and lime 30 cents per bushel. In all cases it is desir- 
able to use powdered copper sulphate, as it costs but little 
more and dissolves much more readily. It is highly import- 
ant also that fresh lime be used." 

By the addition of four ounces of Paris green or London 
purple to each 50 gallons of Bordeaux mixture, we have a most 
excellent insecticide and fungicide combined. 

The writer also adds one quart of glucose or cheap molasses 
to each 50 gallons of mixture. 

Second. A second mixture may be made which is cheaper 
and which the writer has found effective against potato " rot." 
It is made thus : — 

Sulphate of copper (blue stone), four pounds ; quicklime, 
four pounds ; water, 80 gallons ; add four ounces of Paris green 
or London purple and one quart of glucose or molasses to each 
50 gallons of mixture. 



FUNGOUS DISEASES. 



51 



'' It is found," says Professor B. T. Galloway, " that much 
time is saved by preparing what may be called stock solution 
of both copper sulphate and lime milk. A stock solution of 
copper sulphate may be made by dissolving copper sulphate 
in water at the rate of two pounds to a gallon. The most 
convenient way to dissolve the copper sulphate is to tie it in 
a coarse sack and then suspend the same in a barrel in such a 
way that it will be as near the top as possible. The barrel is 
then filled with water, and the copper sulphate within the 
sack quickly dissolves, the solution sinking at once to the 
bottom and the fresh water coming to the top to take its place. 

" If the copper sulphate is placed at the bottom of the bar- 
rel at once, the surrounding water soon becomes saturated 
with the chemical in solution, and in this condition, being 
heavier than the water alone, it remains at the bottom, and 
in consequence prevents the further action of the liquid above. 

''If it is desired to make up a 50-gallon barrel of stock 
copper solution, 100 pounds of copper sulphate is weighed out, 
suspended in the sack within the barrel as already described, 
and the barrel is then filled to a 50-gallon mark previously 
made. As soon as the copper sulphate is dissolved, the sack 
should be removed and sufficient water added to bring the 
solution up to the desired quantity. A stock solution pre- 
pared in this way will last indefinitely, provided too much of 
the water is not allowed to evaporate. 

'• In preparing a stock milk of lime, slake 100 pounds of 
fresh lime after the fashion practiced by masons. When 
slaked place the paste in a 50-gallon barrel and then fill the 
latter with water. 

" In preparing Bordeaux mixture from such stock solutions 
lit is only necessaiy to take a given quantity of each and mix 
Ithem together. Thus, if 50-gallon formula for Bordeaux 
mixture is adopted, it will be necessary to use three gallons of 
(the stock solution of copper sulphate and approximately two 



52 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

gallons of the stock lime preparation. The copper sulphate 
solution should first be placed in a barrel and then nearly 
enough water added to fill the latter. The lime milk should 
then be added and the whole thoroughly stirred. Before 
using, the mixture should be tested by the potassium ferrocyanide 
test j that is, a few drops of the solution of the latter chemi- 
cal should be added, and if no change in color is noted 
the fungicide may be considered perfectly safe. In case a 
reddish precipitate forms when the potassium ferrocyanide is 
added, lime milk should be stirred in until no reaction takes 
place." (''Insect Life," No. 2, Vol. vii, page 127.) 

To the farmer who may not be prepared to make the 
potassium ferrocyanide test, we suggest the use of a slight ex- 
cess of the lime milk in preparing Bordeaux mixture from 
stock solutions of copper sulphate and milk of lime. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
HARVESTING. 

No part of the work of potato growing is attended with so 

many difficulties. The time in which the crop must be 

secured, if secured at all, is often very limited, and the work 

must be pushed from the very start. A change in the 

I weather, a very wet spell, may cause the loss of several days, 

I often leaving the ground soggy ; or a long dry spell may have 

I so hardened the ground that it is lumpy and difficult to work; 

then there are sure to be little breaks and consequent delays 

for repairs of machinery, — in fact, a thousand-and-one little 

I annoyances are liable to confront us just as they do in har- 

! vesting grain or in haying. 

The scarcity of really good machinery for doing the work 
is another great drawback in harvesting potatoes. For the 
j many hindrances and delays, for all the emergencies liable 
i to happen, we must be ever ready with expedients for over- 
I coming difficulties and accomplishing our work. 
I If you intend to grow potatoes for profit you must have a 
j good potato digger, one that is large enough and strong 
1 enough to do the work required. If I could sell my experi- 
, ence with potato diggers and potato digger agents and manu- 
j facturers for what it has cost me, I would think myself pretty 
well to do. I have tried walking diggers and riding diggers, 
elevating diggers and shaking diggers, one-, two-, and four- 
horse diggers, and at times I have felt that I would have to go 
( back to the old-fashioned hand-fork, or plow them in the old- 
fashioned way. And yet there are good, strongly made potato 

53 



54 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

diggers that do the work well. With whatever machine you 
choose, the work of digging may be expedited by careful pre- 
paration. Should the land be foul with weeds or grass, or 
should there be a heavy growth of vines, these should be 
removed before digging is begun. The digging can always 
be done better if the trash is first removed. The removal of 
the encumbering vines, trash, etc., can best be accomplished 
with a mower and horse rake. If the rows are three feet 
apart, a five-foot machine will cut two rows at a swarth, and 
if the rubbish is dry, rake it into windrows and burn, or, if 
not too cumbersome, rake into bunches and leave until the 
potatoes are dry. 

If the ground has become hard it is best to run a slanting 
tooth harrow over the field, going lengthwise with the rows, 
thus breaking up the top crust, so that in running up over the 
digger much of the dirt will fall through and thus give the 
machine a better chance of separating the tubers from the 
soil. Now as to the machine used : considering the great dif- 
ferences in soils, the varying habits of growth with different 
varieties of potatoes, whether deep or shallow, scattering or 
close in the hill, — considering all the different circumstances 
that are liable to confront us, I am fully convinced that the 
Hoover Digger (see Fig. i8) is the best. I regard it as the 
best — 

Fi?'st, because it is the only potato digger that separates the 
trash from the tubers, carrying the trash to one side. 

Second, because it leaves the potatoes in a narrower row 
entirely out of the way of the wheels or horses in digging 
the next row, and, I may add, making the picking up of the 
tubers much easier. 

Third, because the Hoover digger separates the tubers from 
the soil by a forward and backward sliding motion, thus allow- 
ing the tubers to slide off without bruising, instead of tossing 
them up as other diggers do. 



HARVESTING. 55 

Fourth, this digger is strongly and honestly made, of the 




best materials. This is especially important with a potato 
digger, for if the season be a dry one and the ground is hard, 



56 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

the tubers are likely to be deeply set in the ground. The 
digger will be required to withstand a severe strain, and if it 
be a light, flimsy machine it may break down and cause much 
delay, and possibly the loss of a part of the crop. 

Fifth, having no cogs to wear or break, and being lower 
geared than many other machines, with the wearing parts well 
covered to exclude dirt and sand, I believe it to be a longer- 
lived machine than most others. 

•Now, having your land prepared and trash removed, your 
digger ready, well oiled and all nuts tight, and a full comple- 
ment of diggers, wagons, horses, and teamsters, you are ready 
for business. 

Do not try to work with an inadequate force. In digging 
I always use four good horses, hitching them to the machine 
four abreast. 

The distance the potatoes have to be hauled will, to a large 
extent, determine the number of teams to be used ; but if you 
intend to do a day's digging, have at least two teams for 
hauling. In digging any of the tougher-skinned varieties, 
especially if for market, I prefer to have the potatoes picked 
right into baskets and dumped directly into the wagon, 
rather than to sack them in the field, or to handle, as many do, 
in boxes. Have the teamsters to drive along as close as possible 
to the edge of the rows and to keep up with the pickers, care- 
fully dumping the baskets into the wagon as they are handed 
up by the pickers. Most of my picking is done by boys. At 
this time of year it is often hard to get enough good men, and 
a strong, active boy will often do faster and better work than 
a man. Always have enough pickers to gather the potatoes 
nearly as fast as dry, so that, if the digger is stopped a short 
time before night, all the tubers can be easily secured before 
the usual time to stop work. Don't try to work too late ; by 
eight or ten hours of steady, well-directed work in the field 
you will accomplish more than by working over-time without 



HARVESTING. 



57 



a judicious division of labor. I have found that most hands, 
and especially boys, appreciate one's efforts to make their 
work as light and agreeable as possible, and are sure to resent 
as an imposition all attempts to compel them to work over- 
hours, or to do more than they are able. 

If the potatoes are to be stored, we always haul and shovel 
directly into the pit or cellar, using a potato or coke-scoop 
shovel. (Fig. 19.) 




Fig. 19.— Potato or Coke-scoop Shovel. 



If the potatoes are to be shipped, they are placed in a dark 
room and allowed to sweat before being sorted for shipment. 
In handling care should always be taken not to bruise the 
tubers. In case of the thin-skinned varieties, or choice ones 
grown specially for seed, it is best to pick directly into boxes 
or baskets and haul at once to the place of storage. 



CHAPTER IX. 

STORING AND MARKETING. 

Before sorting potatoes, especially if they are to be shipped 
any great distance, I prefer that they be stored in a pile in a 
dark, cool place for a week or ten days, so that they ma} 
sweat. The skins are by this process toughened, and any din 
which may have adhered to the tubers after di 2:2 in 2: will be 



loosened and fall off. Besides, I believe there is much less 
danger of heating and loss if shipped during warm or wet 
weather than if freighted when first dug. If a tender-skinned 
variety, the crop should be sorted by hand, especially if 
intended for seed, carefully taking out any bruised, cut, or 
imperfect tubers, together with the small ones. "^ 

If the skin is of ordinary toughness, after having gone 
through the sweat, they can be run through a sorter. There 
are a number of these machines in the market. I have found 
the Hoover (see Fig. 20) as good if not better than any 
other. 

Set the sorter with the hopper near enough the pile of 
potatoes for convenient shoveling. Place a basket at the end 
for the large tubers and another directly under the machine to 
catch the smaller ones, or boards may be fastened to the legs 
and the potatoes shoveled away as rapidly as they accumulate., 

Now, with a smart man- to shovel and a boy to turn ^le 
erank, and another lively boy to change and empty baskets, 
one can easily sort a car of potatoes a day. If free from scal> 
or cut potatoes, this will be force enough, but if the crop is 
infected with scab or has been cut much in harvesting, a good 

58 



STORING AND MARKETING. 



59 



man should be placed at the rear of the sorter to throw out all 
objectionable tubers. 




When our crop is large or the potatoes are to be shipped for 
I the general market, we set the sorter in the door of the build- 



6o POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

ing or storage room and have the potatoes shoveled into the 
hopper directly from the wagon that brings them from the 
field. If the potatoes are to be shipped any great distance 
they should be shoveled into barrels or bags. 

For whole car lots I prefer to use bags, as they are much 
easier to handle than barrels, and pack so much better in the 
car. Again, if the weather is warm or damp the tubers are 
not so liable to heat. The bags should be filled perfectly full 
and then sown up tightly. In shipping long distances, I pre- 
fer a large thick bag holding from four to five bushels. These 
larger sacks save considerable time in sewing as well as in load- 
ing wagons and cars. With a good store truck and plank run- 
way from the store-room to the wagon, men of ordinary 
strength can easily wheel the sacks to the \\'agon and from the 
wagon to the car. In loading a car begin at one end and 
pack the bags as closely together as possible. Fill to the door 
and then commence at the other end of the car and proceed 
as before until the entire space is tightly filled, so that the bags 
will not move about or be disturbed by the motion of the car. 
If care is thus taken in loading a car, the potatoes may be 
transported long distances without injury. 

If to be sent to any particular market inquiries should be 
made as to the size and shape of the packages to be used. 
Different markets demand different packages. The sack most 
generally used is one holding i8o pounds, but some markets 
prefer loo pound sacks. 

If the potatoes are to go but a short distance they can be 
shipped in bulk. I often so ship the greater part of the crop, 
sometimes drawing it directly from the field, having the sorter 
in the car where the work of separating the marketable tubers 
from the small ones is readily done. By far the larger part 
of the crop grown in the West is so drawn directly from the 
field to the cars ; or the tubers are placed in piles, and cov- 
ered with straw until drawn to the cars. 



STORING AND MARKETING. 6l 

If possible a dry or moderately dry time should be chosen 
for harvesting. But if the season is damp the tubers should 
be allowed to lie on the ground for a few hours, exposed to the 
wind and sun. 

Winter Storage. — Much labor may be saved in storing away 
the potato crop if we have provided a few cheap conveniences 
which the farmer can make himself. 

The first and one of the most useful devices is the dumping 

gate, of which many good makes can be found in our western 

markets. It may be so arranged as to be let down from the 

top to nearly level with the bottom of the wagon bed, and 

' should have sides six or eight inches wide to keep the tubers 

I from rolling off sideways. 

I A good chute should also be provided. It should have sides 

J four to six inches high and a slat bottom, the slats running 

! lengthwise and being about two inches wide and from one- 

j half to three-quarters of an inch apart, so that the dirt will 

] run through ; one end should be placed in the wagon and the 

S other enter the cellar or pit at just such an angle as will allow 

I the potatoes to roll gently down the incline. In this manner 

the rough-skinned varieties may be handled with a saving of 

much labor. But tender-skinned varieties should be carried 

: down in baskets or bags. Before storing, the tubers should 

be sorted and all showing indications of disease thrown out. 

Use every reasonable precaution to prevent bruising. I 
always keep pits open during the night as long as it can be 
safely done without danger of freezing, so as to keep the tem- 
perature low, that the potatoes may remain dormant. 

Where merely temporary storage for one winter is wanted, 
a pit (Fig. 2i), dug about three feet deep, five or six feet wide, 
and as long as is necessary to store the crop, will be found 
satisfactory. Make a ventilator for every 15 feet in length 
of pit by using a one-by-six inch fence beard 16 feet long, 
sawn in two pieces, one nine feet and the other seven feet 



62 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 



long. Rip the seven-foot piece lengthwise, making strips 
three-by-one inch. Place these strips even at the top end 
and nail together. This leaves an air space of three by four 
inches, and the narrow strips coming only to within two feet 
of the bottom end, give a circulation of air all through the 
tubers; set these up in the pit before putting in any potatoes, 
resting the bottom end on the ground, so as to take all damp 
air from the bottom. Fill the pit to within six or eight inches 
of the top at sides and ends, rounding it up in the middle to 




Fig. 21. — Cross-Section of Potato Pit. 



one or two feet above the surface of the ground. Cover i 
with at least two feet of good dry straw — wheat or rye pre- 
ferred, — using care to have straw well tucked in at the sides 
and ends of the pit, so that, as the covering freezes and separ- 
ates from the side, there will be no air space made. If care 
is used in covering, and the pit is not dug too deep or filled 
too near the top at the edges, I have always found the tubers 
to come out sound in the spring ; but where pits of this kind 
have been made too deep, I have sometimes found a loss on 



STORING AND MARKETING. 



63 



top resulting from the warm vapor rising from the bottom and 
freezing in the straw above j this thaws out in warm spells and 
causes rot. There will be no need at any time of closing the 
ventilator, as the damp air going out will fr-eeze in cold 
weather on meeting the surface air, and in very cold weather 
close up the top, thawing out as soon as the weather moderates. 
When large crops of potatoes or other root crops are reg- 
ularly grown, a permanent pit or cellar will be found not only 



5-iS^44^^gi;« 




Fig. 22.— Permanent Potato Cellar, 

the most satisfactory, but the cheapest. If possible, select a 
high, dry place to locate the pit, or else make it so by drain- 
age. Excavate the pit by using a plow and road scraper, 
finishing up with a spade. I prefer a pit eight to ten feet 
wide and at least eight feet deep. It may be wider if many 
varieties are grown, so as to allow an alley-way along one side. 
Build it as long as is necessary to hold the crop. Dig a space 
at one end eight feet long and six feet wide for a hatchway, 
with steps or a ladder. Draw a line through center of pit 
lengthwise, and dig post-holes one-and-one-half feet deep and 



64 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

large enough to take in a good post of cedar or other durable 
wood, eight inches in diameter and twelve feet long. Set 
these firmly in the holes and tamp well. Square and level the 
tops of these, which will extend three feet above the top of 
pit. Place the ridge-pole, which should be a strong timber, 
eight-by-ten inches, spiked securely to the tops of the center- 
posts. Choose two two-by-twelve inch planks and lay them 
on the ground on each side of the pit at least six inches from 
the inside edge. For rafters or supports use fence posts placed 
several inches apart, fitted to the ridge-pole, and resting on 
the side planks. Spike firmly to the ridge-pole and side 
planks. Make frames two-by-six and three feet in depth with 
cleats inside at bottom for bottom cover. Use a tight-fitting 
cover for both the top and bottom. The top cover should 
extend over the edge one inch. Place these frames not over 
fifteen feet apart on one side of top for the convenient filling 
of the pit. Make ventilators four-by-six inches inside measure, 
and long enough to extend two feet above surface of covering 
and one foot below ridge-pole, and spike in place on one 
side of same. Now make another long enough to reach the 
bottom of pit and large enough to slip up over the one just 
described, but be sure to have the first four feet of the bottom 
quite full of two- inch auger holes, or else do not extend side 
boards to within one foot of bottom. On top of roof place 
cornstalks, sorghum bagasse, or other coarse material and on 
this spread two feet of soil. Sow the soil on top of pit with 
clover, to prevent washing. Make a hatchway with tight- 
fitting, inside and outside doors. Such a pit, if dug in good, 
dry soil, and if good material has been used, will last for years. 
If the soil on the sides should not be sufficiently strong to 
stand, the walls must be boarded. If too wet, cement must 
be used. I find that a pit constructed in this manner keeps 
the tubers firmer, and longer without sprouting, than where a 
solid plank or stone top is used. 



CHAPTER X. 

PROPAGATING NEW VARIETIES. 

In propagating new varieties of potatoes or, in fact, of any 

plant, the one object should be improvement. There are 

enough worthless potatoes already, and every new one should 

. mark an advance and be an imi)rovement on our many excel- 

j lent varieties. 

^ Like produces like ; a strong, vigorous parentage transmits 
^ a high degree of vitality to the offspring. On the other 
j hand, weakness is the sure inheritance derived from a dis- 
i eased or feeble ancestry. Says Professor Bailey : '' Man must 
I not only practice a judicious selection of parents from which 
I the cross is to come, which is in reality the exercise of a 
^j choice, but he must eventually select the best from among the 
'^ crosses in order to maintain a high degree of usefulness and 
I to make any advancement." 

We know that judicious crossing within the species, aided 
by careful selection of individuals between which the cross is 
to be made will improve the stock, but we must go a step 
further. The strongest, most vigorous parent will, to a greater 
extent, impress the offspring, whether it be the staminate or 
pistillate parent, with both its bad and good qualities. 

With these facts before us let us go to work with a view to 
making improvement. Choose for both parents the very 
best specimens and trust nothing to chance. We sometimes 
see potato seed advertised for sale. In a few cases these 
'lOfferings are from carefully selected specimens of choice va- 
rieties, and consequently the seed is very high in price. Most 

65 



66 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

of the seed offered, however, is simply taken from balls found 
growing in any field and upon any variety. Such seed is 
worthless. There can be no reasonable assurance of success 
unless you at least know the character of one of the parents. 
The only safety is in buying from responsible men who will 
truthfully tell you from what varieties seed has been grown, 
or you must grow the seed yourself. 

Having decided to work for some special as well as real 
improvement, begin by pollinating the pistillate flowers with 
pollen from the staminate, using a finecamel's-hair pencil for 
the purpose, and being careful not to injure the tender organs 
of the plant. If this method is found too tedious let nature 
do its own work : simply select the tubers of the varieties from 
vv'hich you wish to save the seed. Plant them, and then on 
each side of the row from which you wish to save balls plant 
a row of the potatoes you wish to fertilize from. They will 
do their own fertilizing much more surely and cheaply than 
can be done by man ; be sure that no other varieties are grow- 
ing in the immediate vicinity.* 

Saving the Seed. — As soon as the balls containing the 
seed begin to ripen or turn yellow, but before they fall, 
gather what you wish to preserve. Lay them on a board or 
paper for a few days and then squeeze the seed into a glass of 
water and wash thoroughly. Place in the sun for an hour or 
two to dry, after which keep in a dry, airy place for a few 
days, when the seed is ready to store away. Label plainly and 
keep in a dry place. Keep a record of the parent varieties. 



* Many varieties which we have never known to bear seed will do so 
when planted beside others of robust growth. This has been the case 
with Burpee's Superior, which had never grown a ball until I planted it 
beside one of my seedlings of very robust habit of growth. The row next 
to the seedling was loaded with balls, the second row contained a few, and 
the other rows (24 in number) failed to produce a ball. 



PROPAGATING NEW VARIETIES. 67 

describing habits of growth, etc., so that in after years you 
may have a com})lete history of the experiment. 

THE SEEDLING. 

In early spring sow the seed in the hotbed or a box in 

the house and let the rows be two or three inches apart, and 

about half an inch dee^). Use wood labels to mark the rows. 

Keep the ground moist, and in a few days the young plants 

will appear. Be sure to keep the bed moist and warm, but do 

not allow it to become overheated or the tender plants will 

be killed. 

' As soon as the plants are from an inch to an inch-and-a-half 

I high, it is best to prick them out to other rows in the bed or 

j to a cold frame, giving them more space so that they may 

J become more stocky; it is also often well to prick out the 

I second time, using small pasteboard boxes about four inches 

'i square, three inches deep and without bottoms. These can 

I be set in a shallow box and filled with rich, mellow garden 

* soil and placed in a cold frame until set out in the open 

i ground. 

i| Then select the richest and mellowest piece of ground in 
t your garden, thoroughly pulverize the soil, mark off the rows 
far enough apart to be worked with a horse cultivator, setting 
the plants in the rows about 16 or 18 inches apart. Set the 
plants a little deeper at each transplanting, firm the soil with 
the hands or fingers, but do not press hard enough to cause 
\ the earth to pack or bake. 

Some shade should be given the young plants for a few 
days after they have been set out. If grown in boxes as 
directed, they can be taken to the field for planting, and 
after marking out, holes may be made to receive the plants ; 
then take each box as required for planting, and with a small, 
sharp knife-blade cut down the corners of the box which may 
be removed as the plant is placed in the ground. This is 



68 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

readily done without disturbing the roots. Set a small stake 
at each plant, bearing a number, so that during the growing 
season a record of its habits of growth may be kept. Keep 
the ground well worked and free from weeds, drawing a little 
dirt to the plants at each hoeing. Early in the fall, before 
danger of freezing, secure as many small boxes as are required 
for storing the seedlings^ — either wood or pasteboard will do — 
and mark each box with the corresponding number of the 
hill from which the potatoes are taken. Store the boxes in a 
safe place in the cellar until the coming of spring. 

At planting time prei)are the land in the best jjossible man- 
ner, select for planting the best specimens of each box, placing 
a numbered stake firmly at the end of each row, or between 
the varieties in each row. 

A record should be kept of the number of hills, habits of 
growth, together with any other data that may help in distin- 
guishing each variety in case the stakes are lost or broken. 
But this should be carefully guarded against, and a missing 
stake should be immediately replaced. By all means begin 
the numbering from the same end of the rows. 

The labor of the succeeding seasons is simply a repetition 
of the work described, each year selecting only the finest 
specimens of each variety and keeping a careful record of 
their habits of growth. This process of selection must be 
continued for five years before one is justified in introducing 
a distinct variety; and we have frequently continued the 
work of selection for six and seven years before being satisfied 
that a variety was worth introduction. 

A few agricultural writers have claimed that three years 
were sufficient to develop and fix the type, but I want no three- 
year-old varieties. I have had hundreds of them to give 
every promise of making fine varieties until the fourth and 
even the fifth year, and then they would be found wanting in 
some essential characteristic, or would develop some fault that 



PROPAGATING NEW VARIETIES. 69 

would cause me to discard them altogether. Again, other 
varieties for the first three or four years may show scarcely a 
point in their favor. I now have in mind a potato that for 
three years was so extremely small that I only saved the tubers 
because they were very smooth and pretty, and when cooked 
were of excellent quality. This potato increased but little in 
size until the fifth year; suffice it to say it is to-day one of 
the heaviest cropping early potatoes in cultivation. 

Propagators can plant but a few hills of each variety from 
year to year, or they would soon occupy too much ground. 
It has always been my plan to plant 20 to 40 hills each year, 
increasing the number to 200 or more of the most promising 
varieties. This is done to enable us to work up a stock of 
seed as soon as possible after ascertaining to a certainty that 
a new variety is worthy of introduction. From the very be- 
ginning all new varieties that show symptoms of disease, are 
rough or ill-shaped, should be discarded, and nothing but 
healthy, vigorous growers, smooth and well formed, should be 
retained. If one is to make a success in any branch of gar- 
dening or farming, he must cull with a bold hand. We can- 
not afford to waste time in propagating plants on anything 
but the best. 

GROWING SEED POTATOES. 

When the crop is to be grown for seed alone no labor nor 
care should be spared in selecting the stock seed, and in 
choosing and preparing the most suitable land. The prepara- 
tion and after culture should be most thorough and complete. 
Only the choicest tubers from vigorous stock, grown under 
favorable circumstances, should be selected, and all small, 
rough, irregularly shaped seed should be rejected. Wherever 
possible, land should be selected where the crop has been free 
from disease for a number of years. 

Cutting the Seed.— The seed should be cut carefully by 



70 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

hand, using a knife with a sharp, thin blade, — a concave- 
bladed knife is best. (See Fig. 2, page 24.) I always prefer 
cutting to a single eye when growing for seed. By this divi- 
sion of the tuber there will not be so many potatoes set in the 
hill, but they will be larger, smoother, and finer in every 
respect, and consequently there will be a larger crop of mer- 
chantable potatoes. 

If a tuber be cut lengthwise through the center with a sharp 
knife and then a thin slice betaken from either half, it will be 
observed, on holding the slice up to the light, that small, 
thread-like lines lead from the eye at the surface downward 
toward the center, where they unite with the main germ which 
passes through the tuber from the eye or blow^ end to the stem 
or end where the tuber has growai to the vine. 

If a tuber be taken in the left hand and cut with a concave- 
bladed knife, commencing at the first eye at the bottom or 
stem-end and cut toward the center, and then down to the 
surface again, it will be observed that the slice contains the 
eye with all its thread-like connections or primary roots intact. 
All the eyes should be so cut. Simply revolve the tuber one- 
half way round and cut an eye at each turn until the seed or 
blow end is reached. Leave in each eye enough of the tuber 
to sustain the germ until w^ell established in the ground. It 
should be remembered that the eye-pieces are not like seeds. 
There is no embryo to unfold. A potato is to be regarded as 
an underground branch, and the set or eye as a bud from 
which another plant is developed. 

THE TRENCH SYSTEM. 

I have only tried this method of planting on a limited scale 
and under rather unfavorable circumstances, yet it is my im- 
pression that this system requires too much labor and expense, 
both in planting and in harvesting the crop. Especially do I 
think this will be true where land is cheap and labor high. 



PROPAGATING NEW VARIETIES. 7 1 

With the small farmer and village gardener, anxious to make 
the most of what land he has, the trench system will grow in 
favor as it becomes better understood. 

'* The object," says Mr. E. S. Carman in the " New Potato 

Culture," " of the trench system in potato raising is twofold : 

first, to give a mellow, porous soil for the growing tubers. It 

is claimed that any considerable pressure upon them must 

have soQie effect to mar their shape and dwarf their size. The 

tuber takes no part in the nourishment of the plant, but must 

itself be nourished by the plant and its roots. If, therefore, 

' when and after the tubers begin to form, the plants do not 

' receive an abundance of food, their further growth must 

I cease or at least be checked. But without moisture the food 

( in the soil is unavailable, no matter how great soever may be 

' the supply. Hence, therefore, second, the trench system, it 

I is maintained, retains moisture during periods of dry weather, 

when the soil as ordinarily treated would dry out." (See 

I page 25 of the '•' New Potato Culture.") 

\ This system consists simply in working the land deeply, 

and then forming trenches from six to ten inches deep. Mr. 

Carman, in his many experiments, obtained the largest yield in 

trenches four inches deep. The next best results were with 

j trenches eight inches deep. He says: " When it is consid- 

■ ered that the eight-inch trenches give the next largest yield, 

we have evidence that the experiments have not been carried 

on long enough to warrant any positive generalizations." 

In this system the soil in the bottom of the trench is worked 
over and the fertilizer well worked in. The tubers are planted 
at the bottom of the trench, covered lightly at first and then the 
dirt is gradually worked in at each cultivation during growth. 
While preparing and planting in the trench system requires 
more work than in the ordinary way, yet the culture is some- 
what lessened and the rows kept cleaner with less work. The 
question with the large grower will be, Can the crop be in- 



72 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

creased enough to justify the extra expenditure of labor ? The 
old method of planting in drills will undoubtedly be con- 
tinued until improved tools and machinery are invented for 
simplifying the work in the trench system. 

Until that time, in suitable soil rightly managed, drill cub 
ture, light hilling, and deep planting afford the least expense 
and promise the greatest profit to the farmer. 



CHAPTER XI. 
LEADING VARIHTIES. 

Burpee's Extra Early. — We place this grand new potato 
at the head of the list, because we believe it to be the earliest 
first-class potato on the market, and the very best extra 
early potato grown. (Fig. 23.) It was first introduced by 
Messrs. W. Atlee Burpee cSc Co. in 18S9, as Van Ornam's 
seedling. No. 37. It has been thoroughly tried in every State 
of the Union, in British Columbia, the Canadian provinces, 
and Europe, and is more widely grown throughout the world 
than any other early potato of recent introduction. Its claim 
of being from ten days to two weeks earlier than Early Rose, 
Beauty of Hebron, Early Puritan, Polaris, etc., and one week 
earlier than Early Ohio, has been fully substantiated. In the 
South, where it is now so extensively grown, Burpee's Extra 
Early seems better suited to the soil and climate than any of 
the foregoing varieties, and has proved the best market potato 
for shipping to the North. 

It is a seedling from Early Rose, grows uniformly of good 
size, free from roughness or scab, and produces very few small 
tubers. It is oblong in shape, eyes few and near the surface, 
very smooth skin, creamy white, fine-grained flesh, slightly 
tinged with pink. Grows very compactly in the hill and near 
the surface. ■ Foliage strong and vigorous, and of an intensely 
dark-green color. A sure cropper, good keeper, and im- 
mensely prolific. Eating qualities the very best. 

Early Six Weeks Market.— This is evidently a seedling 
or sprout from Early Ohio; medium to large in size, oblong 

73 



74 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 




I 



LEADING VARIETIES, 



75 



to round in shape, with few eyes near the surface, smooth, 
lightish pink color. Robust habits of growth, a fair cropper, 
and quality good. 

Van Ornam's Earliest.— So nearly the counterpart of 
Burpee's Extra Early that its description is scarcely necessary. 
Tops not quite so large, tubers grow rather shorter and 
more full in center. Sets rather more in the hill, but does 
not grow quite so large. Is about the same in yield and 
quality. 

Early Ohio. — Too well-known to need description here, 
'.'xcept to say it is a grand cropper in most places. 

Quality good and a splendid shipper, but very liable to scab 
with us. 

Early Maine. — So closely resembling the Early Rose that 
few would be able to tell them apart, but a better cropper and 
about one week earlier. Fine eating qualities. 

Early Puritan. — Owing to the small tops, may be 
planted somewhat closer ihan most varieties. A handsome, 
oblong potato; skin and flesh pure white. Cooks dry and 
floury* and is of excellent quality. It is very productive ; the 
vines are of vigorous, upright growth, and the tubers mature 
as early as Early Rose. They are very dry and fit for table 
use when only half grown. A good cropper, but scabs some 
with us. 

Beauty of Hebron. — Needs no description here ; it has 
simply forged its way to the front on unquestioned merit. A 
rapid and vigorous grower, ripening as early as Early Rose, 
which it resembles but frequently exceeds in productiveness 
and excellence for table use. 

Freeman.— No potato of late years has been so exten- 
sively advertised or more widely distributed. The tuber is 
oval-shaped, very smooth and handsome in appearance. 
Flesh pure white, both when raw and cooked, fine grained 
and of best flavor. A good cropper on suitable land ; one of 



76 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

the best keepers and shippers. A fine, medium early variety 
for the small gardener or amateur, but it requires the best 
land and careful culture, and is so very sensitive to extremes 
of weather that we do not believe it can ever become a stan- 
dard and be grown by the average farmer. 

Extra Early Walton. — We sent this variety out in 1891 
as an extra early potato, ]>nt it has proved only medium early. 
Tops large, strong, and very robust, foliage thick, heavy, and 
intensely dark green. The tubers growcom})actly in the hill, 
very large in size, and color of Early Rose. Tlie heaviest 
cropper I have ever grown. " About perfect in quality," says 
i\\Q Rural New Yorker. It is as good as the Freeman, and 
will yield more tlian three times the crop of the former under 
ordinary circumstances. 

Early Rose. — We need say but little regarding this grand 
old standard, which to-day retains all its fine qualities, and in 
many places its prolificness. It is the parent of more good 
potatoes than any other variety with which we are acquainted. 

Early Polaris. — A grand potato closely resembling the 
Flarly Turitan. 

The Great Divide. — The Great Divide (Figs. 24 and 
25) was originated in Lewis, Cass County, Iowa, by me, from 
a seed-ball produced in 1887 on the Early Ohio, fertilized 
with the Old California. 

The Old California was the heaviest-cropping and best keep- 
ing potato grown here. While of finest quality for table use, 
it was too rough and deep-eyed; it was very healthy and 
robust in growth, withstanding drought and insects better than 
any other variety known. 

The vines of the Great Divide are stout, erect, and branch- 
ing direct from the main stem ; foliage plentiful, with dark- 
green leaves, withstanding drought, extreme heat, and attacks 
of insects admirably. 

It is medium to late ; perfectly free from disease, scab, or 



LEADINCx VARIETIES. 



77 



blight. Tubers of oblong, round form; eyes plentiful and 
found on the surface, giving it a handsome appearance, and 
making almost no waste in paring. Skin very white, firm, and 
tough. Grows very compactly in the hill, and while the tubers 
are well under ground, they are borne near the surface of the 
soil. Size large to very large, with scarcely a small one. Our 
records show that in the past four years it has been an immense 
yielder of large, very smooth, fine-sized potatoes, and that it 



\ \ 



1^ 




Fig. 24.— Showing Habit of Growth in the Hill. {From a photograph.) 

sets enough tubers always to produce a fine crop. Perfectly 
free from disease, its constitution seems iron-clad. 

Flesh very white, and when baked or boiled, breaks open 
like a snowball,— white and floury ; it cooks finely and very 
quickly, with a delicious nutty flavor. 

It is the best keeper I have ever grown. Placed in a cellar 
lOctober 15, 1892, when taken out for planting June 2, 1893, 
the tubers were without a sign of sprout, as firm and hard as 



78 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 




LEADING VARIETIES. 



79 



when first dug. A tuber then tested for eating showed it had 
retained its fine flavor. Although we cut the tubers to single 
eye pieces, which we planted i8 inches apart, every eye 
grew, coming up quickly and finely, and producing a perfect 
stand. Taking the results of my careful records, supple- 
mented by reports from Agricultural Experiment Stations and 
potato experts, received from almost every State, also from 
Europe, I consider it the most robust growing, heaviest 
cropping, longest keeping, and best shipping main-crop 
Potato in America. In fact, it is a peer of the Burbank in 
its palmiest days, while it is adapted to a greater variety of 

' soils and climates. 

I It will produce a less percentage of small tubers in propor- 

• tion to the whole crop than any other potato grown. It will 
j' succeed better on a greater, variety of soils, and under wider 
I extremes of temperature, and retain its fine quality and ap- 
i pearance. 

\ Burpee's Empire State. — First introduced in 1S85, the 
\ Empire State has had an immense sale and become very pop- 
I ular throughout the country. The potatoes are oblong in 

* shape, of large size, smooth, and very handsome. It is a 
seedling raised by E. L. Coy from the only seed ball he had 
ever succeeded in finding on the White Elephant. It is rich 
and delicate in flavor, remarkably free from rot, is never 
hollow, and cooks evenly through without any coarseness; 
skin and flesh pure white, eyes plentiful and near the surface. 
It yields large crops, is easily dug and is a favorite in every 
market. 

Burbank's Seedling. — Tops erect ; strong and plentiful 
foliage; grows compactly in the hill. Skin white, somewhat 
rough, has many eyes, a trifle too deep. A splendid cropper, 
good keeper and of very fine quality. 

Burpee's Superior.— Originated in 1884 (Fig. 26) from 
a seed ball found in a field of White Star.- In shape it some- 



8o 



POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 



what resembles its parent, but is more compact in form. It is 
usually covered with a line netting, which always denotes a 
choice cooking quality. Its vigorous habit of growth enables 
it to withstand disease to a remarkable degree. The eyes lie 
very even with the surface. Both skin and flesh are very white. 
The tubers grow so compactly in the hill that they are easily 
harvested by hand or machine. They are medium late, and 
are the viost p7'ofitable for main crop of all the standard varie- 
ties. They cook easily and quickly all through, having no 
hard or grainy core. Its texture is mealy, its flavor delicious 





Fig. 26. — Burpee's Superior. 






and peculiarly rich and delicate. Vines are strong and firm. 
Foliage heavy, and this enables it to withstand the ravages of 
that new and much to be dreaded enemy to potato growers, — 
the Cucumber Flea Beetle. 

World's Fair. — A fine new potato, originated in Wiscon- 
sin. Vines rather spreading; small, plentiful foliage. Tubers 
round, oval, large size, grows somewhat scattering in the hill, 
but near the surface. Creamy white in color, and a grand 
table potato, being dry, floury, with a rich nutty flavor, h 
sj^lendid cropper. 



Jl. 



LEADINCr VARIETIES. 



8l 



Rural New Yorker, No. 2. — This new potato (Fig. 27) 
originated on the experimental grounds of Tlie Rural New 
Yorkei'^ and although only introduced in 1889, ^"^^s already 
created quite Sifi/rore among potato growers. As the agri- 
cultural papers have contained so many remarkable reports 
of this variety it is only necessary to say a (ew words descrip- 
tive of its merits. It is of very distinct and handsome appear- 
ance ; the tubers are of large size, with remarkable smoothness 




Fig. 27.— Rural New Yorker, No. 2. 



! of skin ; the eyes are few, distinct, and shallow. It is of ex- 
^ treme whiteness, both of skin and flesh, and miexcelled table 
qualities. It has great vigor in growth and solidity of tuber, 
which enable it to resist disease to a remarkable degree. 
Thoroughly tested throughout America and Europe, it has 
proved to be one of the most valuable varieties. 

White Elephant, or Late Beauty of Hebron.— One 
of our best croppers and shippers. Skin and flesh pure white ; 



82 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. 

cooks dry and mealy. Combines great productiveness, power 
of resisting disease, excellent quality, and great beauty. 

Brownell's Winner. — This fine late potato, first intro- 
duced by Messrs. W. Atlee Burpee & Co. in 1890, origi- 
nated with the late Mr. E. S. Brownell, of Vermont, who 
stated: "I originated No. 2000, or BrowneW s V/iiiner, in 
1855, by hybridizing the White Star with the Peachblow. I 
consider it of superior quality, either baked or boiled ; it cooks 
even, white, and dry. The vines are strong and healthy, and 
well calculated to resist the potato beetle. The tubers grow 
large, long, oval, slightly flattened, are very smooth and 
handsome, with few eyes. They grow compact in the hills, 
with few small ones. The color is a light rose-pink ; it 
matures medium late, and is a great producer. I think it is 
superior in all respects to any variety that I have ever origi- 
nated or grown." 

Extra Early Vermont. — Similar in color, form, and 
general appearance to the Early Rose, from which it cannot 
be distinguished. 



INDEX 



A CETATE of lead, 39 
■'*• Ammonia sulphate, 18, 21 
Ammoniac nitrogen, 19 
Arsenate of lead, 39, 40 

of soda, 39 

Aspinwall potato cutter, 24, 25 

planter, 28 



ID EAUTY of Hebron, 27, 75 
■*^ Beet scab, 46 
Beetles, blister 43, 44 

ash-gray, 43 

black, 43,44 

black-rat, 43, 44 

striped, 43 
Blight of the potato, 48 
Blue stone, 47 
vitriol, 47 
Bolley, Professor, 46, 47 
Bordeaux mixture, 47, 50-52 
Breed, Zephaniah, improved weeder, 

3:^. 34 
Burbank's Seedling, 79 
Burpee's Empire State potato, 79 

Extra Early potato, 27, 73-75 

Superior potato, 79 

CALIFORNIA potato, 76 
Carman, Mr. E. S., 71 
Castor pomace, 19 
Chemical fertilizers, 16-23 
Clusius, 10 

Colorado potato beetle, 38-40 
Copperas, 47 
Copper sulphate, 47, 48 
Corrosive sublimate, 47,48 
Cotton-seed meal, 19 
Cultivation, 32, 37 
Cutting the seed, 69 

-rvE CANDOLLE, 11 
•"-^ Depth of planting, 27 
Digger, Hoover potato, 54, 55 
Dissolved bone black, 22 

S. C. rock, 21, 22 
Doryphora decemlineata, 38, 40 
Downv mildew, 48 



"Pi^ARLY Maine potato, 75 

■*-' Ohio " 75,76 

Polaris " 76 
Puritan " 75 
Rose, " 27, 76 
Six Weeks " 73, 75 

Eau celeste, 47 

Epicaerus imbricatus, 44 

Epicauta vittata, 43 

Extra Early Vermont potato, 82 
Walton, 76 



FARMYARD manure, 16, 23 
Fresh, 
Fertilizers, 16-23 
Fernald, Professor C. H., 40 
Freeman potato, 75 
Fungous diseases, 46-52 



GALLOWAY, Professor B T., 51 
Gray, Dr. Asa, 11 
Great Divide potato, 76-79 
Growing seed potatoes, 69 



HARVESTING, 53-57 
Herriot, Thomas, 12 
Hoover potato sorter, 59-60 
Humboldt, Alexander von, 11 



TMBRICATED snout beetle, 44, 45 
•*• Insect enemies, 38-45 
Introduction, 9-13 
Iron sulphate, 47 



JAMES I, 12 
Johnson, Professor S. W., 19 



LAND plaster, 22, 38 
Late blight or Downy mildew, 
Lytta albida, 44 
atrata, 44 
cinerea, 43-44 
maculata, 44 
murina, 44 



83 



84 



INDEX. 



Leaf-si)ol disease, or early blight, 48 
Leggett dry-powder gun, 38 
Lever harrow, 33 
London purple, 38 

MACROSPORIUM solani, 48 
Magazzini, Father, 10 
Manures, 16, 17 
Margined blister beetle, 43. 44 
Massachusetts Gypsy Moth Commis- 
sion, 39 
Meloidoe, 43 
Mercuric bichloride, 47 
Moullon, Mr. F. C, 39 
Muriate potash, 21, 22, 23 



^M'EW potato culture, 71 
■*-^ Nitric nitrogen, 19 
Nitrate soda, 19, 20, 22, 23 



OHIO Junior potato, 27 
Oospora scabies, 46, 47 
Organic nitrogen, 19 
Origin of cultivated plants, ii 



pAJONAL. 9 
■*• Fapas Peruanurum, 10 
Paris green, 38 
Parmentier, 11, 12 
Permanent potato cellar, 63 
Phlegethontius Carolina, 40 
celeus, 40-42 
Phytophora infestans, 48 
Planet Jr. furrower, etc., 30 

horse hoe, etc.. 35, 36 
twelve-tooth harrow, 34 
Planting, 24-31 
Potassium ferrocyanide, 52 
Potatoes, planted on clover sod, 16 
growing seed, 69 
winter storage of, 61-64 
dejHh of planting, 27 
distance apart, 26 
different markets for, 60 
fertilizers for, 18-23 
forms of food for, iS 
ideal soil for, 13 
Potato, Beauty of Hebron, 27, 75 
blight or rot, 48 
culture, use of harrow in, 32 
Clusius' description of the, ic 
knife, concave-curved, 20 
cutting seed, 24 
Hoover digger, 54. 5S 
introduction into Britain, 12 
Spain, 10 



Potato, introduction into F^urope. 10 
Virginia, 11 
dried blood for the, 19, 21, 22 

fish scraps for the, 19 
sulphate amnu)nia " 18, 21 

Early Maine, 75 
Great Divide, 76-79 
Early Ohio, 75, 76 
Rose, 27, 76 
Six Weeks, 27, 73,75 
Ohio Junior, 27 
organic nitrogen for the, 18 
pit, 62, 

scoop shovel, 57 
scab, 46, 47 

treatment for, 46 
scab, N. Y. Station Experi- 
ments, 47, 48 
sorter, Hoover, 59 
stalk weevil, 45 
or tomato worm, 40 
Prescott's Conquest of Peru, 9 
Propagating new varieties, 65-72 



► OWLON, Dr., 11 

'^ Rural New Yorker, No. 2, 81 



SAVING seed. 66 
Seedling, the, 67 
Selection of seed, 24 
Sir J. B. Lawes, 19 
Sir Walter Raleigh, 12 
Sivry, Philippe de, :o 
Soil and prejiaration, 13-15 
Spotted blister beetle, 43,44 
Stock milk of lime, 51,52 

solution of copper suliihatc, 51 
Storing and marketing potatoes, 5S-64 
Sulphate ammonia, 22 
potash, 21 



'HAXTER, Dr. Roland, 46, 47 
Trench system, 70, 71 



TT'AN ORNAM'S Earliest potatn, 75 
^ Vilmorin-Andrieux, 11 



TX/HITE Elephant potato, 81 
^* White blister beetle, 43, ii 
White vitriol, 47 
W' orld's Fair potato, 80 



^INC sulphate, 47 



Horticultural Books. 

WHY WE PUBLISH THEM. 

We believe it part of a soiiud business policy to sell not only 
the b33t Seeds that grow, but also to dirtuse aniou^ our friends 
knowled.ue that will be helpful in producing and marketin>i cops 
and in beautitviui;; tlie euvirouraents of the home. This conviction 
finds expression in the series of publications announced in the I'ol- 
lowing paues, and which fr.»ni year to year has been added to until 
we now oTfer a very complete and useful lilmiry of educational 
works. T lese books should be in every rural home, and sincr they 
can be secured for so small an outlay of cash, or are j^ivcn entirely 
free as premiums on seed orders, every one should have them. 

Books FREE as Premiums. ™jf„S'r-.he' 

—by allowing a credit of ten cents on every dollar sent for 
seeds plants,°or bull)s toward the i)urchase of any book we publish 
tint the purchaser may desire. Thus a $2.00 order, with K) cents 
ad led will secure any book offered for AO cents; with 30 cents 
added' any book offered for 50 cents. Or, a $3.00 order will secure 
free any book offered for 30 cents, or a $3.00 order any one oflered 
for 50 cents, and so on. 

It will be noticed that fhese premiums are entirely free, and do not 
prevent tlie selection of #1.25 worth of speds in packets for each Sl.OO 
seat us for seeds i,i packets. If the purchaser's order is all for seeds 
by weight or measure, on which we do not allow this discount, he is 
still entitled to the selection of any of our books. 



A YEAR'S WORK AT FORDHOOK FARM, 

WITH FIFTY BEAUTIFUL HALF=TONE ILLUSTRATIONS 
FROM PHOTOGRAPHS. 

This new book has been prepared to lay before the reader, in an 
attractive manner, by the united efforts of pen and camera, an ex- 
act comprehensive, and impartial picture of Fordiiook, precisely 
as it appears to the eyes of the average man or woman visitmg the 

Farm 

Althou-h the regular price is lO cents (or free as a premmm 
with a dollar orderf, wc will, upon receipt oHivo 2-c.ent ./.|mps mail 
a copy to the address of any planter who desires to onsuU it before 
seJlc, this season's order for seeds. Shall we mail you a copy 
now? 

PUBLISHED BY 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA. PA. 



THE BEAUTIFUL FLOWER GARDEN. 

By the weII=known Boston Artist, F. SCHUYLER MATHEWS, 
in Collaboration witli ARTHUR FEWKS, the Professional Grower. 

A book on artistic gardening, by 
a trained artist and enthusiastic 
amateur gardener. The pages over- 
tlow with pen-and-ink sketches 
from nature, while the subject mat- 
tor is drawn from the best in the 
artistic world of gardening, show- 
ing the iuHueuce of the formal 
English style, the Italian renais- 
sance, and the art of the Japanese 
upon gardening. 

An important part of this valu- 
aljle book is devoted to descriptions 
of flowers easily prooured and 
grown from seeds, bulbs, and cut- 
tings, with bright sketches show- 
ing their form of growth. The 
closing chapters comprise careful 
iiiltural directions by Mr. Fewks, 
the i)rofessional grower. The pre- 
vailing idea in the book is to teach 
harmony in the arrangement of 
flowers and plants. To introduce 
this book, the price per copy has 
been put at 50 cents, postpaid, 
which is actually less than the cost 
of production for the first edition. 




All About SWEET PEAS. 

REVISED AND ENLARGED. PRICE 20 CENTS. 

A Book of 131 Pages, vith 42 Illustrations. 

In 1893 we first published a little monogiapli, Ai i Abot 
Sweet Peas. It was so enthusiastically received that .'^>2,f>77 
copies were sent out the first si'oson. From tlic oorrt'^pond- 
ence that followed we estimate that fully '2()0,0(Kt p.'r- 
sons reid this monograph. This wonderful fact eiu- 
phatically called for a book. We therefore had a 
beautifully illustrated volume prepared witli the 
fixed purpose of furnishing a niiniilfti' t-pitonie 
of the literature of this fragrant liowt-r. ilie 
author is, of course, Rev. W. T. Hi tcuins, a \\\< 
enthusiastic and successful grower, and an authority 
upon the subject. Our new book is complete, exhaiis- 
tive, and carefully edited. From our hundreds of trials 
at FoRDHooK and comparative .soil tests conducted by 
our chemist, Mr. Skmpers, in several sections of the 
country, we can safely say that cultural directions and 
fertilizers suggested are authoritative. Price 20 cents, 
or Free as a premium with a 5^2.00 order. 

CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS, OR 
ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. 




PUBLISHED BY 

W, ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA, 



Vegetables^Home Garden 

A VALUABLE MANUAL FOR THE MILLION. 

This is really a 30=cent book, but it is so obviously needed by 
everyone that we have decided to ofier it to our customers at the 
merely nominal charge of lO cents. 

It is a brief, clear, and reliable book of 125 pages, illustrated 
with more than seventy-hve engravings, including a map of the 
Life Zones of the United States, — the first map of the kind ever 
published in a work on gardening. 

In addition to the latest and best methods of cultivation, it gives, 
so far as is known, the geographical distribution of species from 
which our cultivated vegetables have been derived. The book is 
divided into two parts, with an appendix containing much tabu- 
lated information of daily interest to all gardeners. 

Part First treats of the Location and Management of the 
Home Garden, Soils, Drainage, Manuring, Composting, Concentrated 
Manures, Hot-beds and Cold Frames, Selection of Seed, Prepara- 
tion and Planting, Climate, Geographic Distribution of Plants 
and Animals, and briefly describes the Seven Life Zones of North 
America. 

Part Second gives the Distribution of Aboriginal Species, 
contains accurate and complete Cultural Directions for all Culinary 
Vegetables described in Burpee's Farm Annual, with Notes on 
Varieties and Time Required from Planting until Vegetables are 
Ready for Use, or to Maturity. 

In the Appendix are revised and corrected Planting Tables for 
Vegetables, Grass and Forage Crops, Weights of Agricultural Com- 
modities, Formulas for Insecticides and Fungicides, and Tables of 
Annual Rain-fall for all the States of the Union. 

The book has been compiled from our own publications, the trial 
records of Fordhook Farm, and a very comprehensive manuscript 
work on general gardening, owned by us, but which has not been 
published,— An- which we paid five hundred dollars. Our long 
experience has made clear the need of just such a work, and we 
advise everyone, — both amateur and professional gardeners, — to 
secure a copy. 

Price lO cents, or can be selected as a premium on seed orders 
amounting to $1.00. 

CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS, OR 
ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



PUBLISHED BY 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



ONIONS FOR PROFIT, 

A Full and Complete Hand=book of Onion Growing. 




^p-r?. PUBLISHED 



^LEEBUl^PEE&Cc 

PHIL-ADELPHIA,P/\. 



At last we publish a really 
complete haud-book ou Ouion 
growing; it is by Mu. T, 
liKEiNKK, author of the New 
Onion Cultukk, of which 
book he says : — 

"The New Onion Culture 
was intended mostly to present 
a new pliase of the business, 
and to encourage further re- 
scarelies in an entirely new 
direction. As a ' Hand-book of 
Onion Growing ' it has short- 
comings and is far from being 
cninplete. It leaves too much 
room fur personal inquiries. I 
have looked the field of horti- 
cultural literatuie in America 
over ])retty closely, and am un- 
able to find a iiand-book for the 
Onion grower the teachings of 
which are based on modern 
met hods and embody (as they 
shduld in order to justify any 
< lainis of being ' up-to-the- 
timcs') the two systems, the 
old and the new, in profitable 
combination." 

Fully Illustrated. 
Price 50 Cents. 



CELERY FOR PROFIT. 

AH a<j;rpe that Celery oiTers greater cliaiiees for iiinkinji money 
than any other g'^rden crop. The difficulties encountered by the 
old methods of jirowinij, however, made success uncertain, and 
sure onl}' with comparatively few expert trroAvers. All this uncer- 
tainty is now a thinji; of the past, as modern methods make profit- 
ahle Celery <>;rowing possible to all intelli«j:ent p;ardeners. From 
tlie same area which wouM gi^e 8100.00 in anv other ve?;etable, 
you may take §100.00 or even S")0).OO in Celery, if you know 
how. Tiiis nt w book was specially written for us by T. Greiner, 
author of Oxioxs for Profit. 

It tells how to dispense with nine-tenths of the labor generally thought neces- 
sary in Celery growing, and how to make the business pay really big profits, 
"under the rig'it culture and conditions several thousand dollars' worth of Celery 
can be raised on a single acre. The book is thoroughly complete in every detail, 
and is embellished with many helpful and original illustrations. Our space 
allows us to give but a glimpse of the table of contents -.—Generalities— .\n Intro- 
duction—The F.arly Celery— The Nr.w Celery Citlture— Where the Profit 
Lies -The Irrigation Problem— The Fall and Winter Crop— Winter Storage- 
Market 'jig Prolilems — Varieties, etc., etc. 

Fully Illustrated. Price 30 Cents. 
CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS. OR 
ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



f^ abbage and f^ auliflower for p rofit. 



BY J. M. LUPTON. 



A new book written from a successful grower's point of view. 
Mr. LuPTON has made the study of these important crops his 
hfe-work, and no man is better able to impart the secrets of 
successful Cabbage and Cauliflower culture. His bright little 
volume is a lucid exposition of facts, set forth in a clear, practical 
the result of t'. ~ ^ 







manner. 

years of experience and 
study. It cannot fail to 
interest and prove a valu- 
able aid to the farmer 
and gardener. 

Synopsis of Con- 
tents. — Introduction, — 
Soil and Preparation, — 
Planting and Cultivation, 
— Fertilizers, with form- 
ulas adapted to these 
crops, — Insect Enemies 
and How to Deal with 
Them, — Storing for Win- 
ter Marketing, — Profit 
and Loss, — Notes on Va- 
rieties. 

With this new treatise, complete in every detail, brightened 

with original illustrations from photographic views taken in the 

fields, success in growing these profitable crops is reasonably 

assured. 

Fully niustrated. Price 50 Cents. 

CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS, OR 
ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. 




PUBLISHED BY 

W.ATLEE BURPEE 2i Co. 

PHILADELPHIA 



PUBLISHED BY 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO.. PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



AN IMPORTANT BOOK FOR FARMERS. 



MANURES: 



How to Make and 
How to Use Them. 

A Practical Treatise on the Chemistry of Manures and Manure Making. 

Written specially for the use 
of farmers, horticulturists, and 
market gardeners, by Frank 
W. Sempers, Director of the 
Fordhook Chemical Laboratoi'y. 

We waut to place a copy of 
tliis excellent new book in the 
home of every farmer in 
America. It is a book for 
which farmers have waited for 
years, telling them what they 
want to know about manures 
and the management of land 
in a way that can be clearly 
luukTstood. it is in every 
.sense a farmer's book, written 
for tlie men who plow and sow 
and reaj). The farmer's busi- 
ness is to grow profitable cro|>s 
without impairment to his 
soil. This book tells in a jdain 
way how to do it. 218 pages. 

Four large editions of this 
book, so important to farmers, 
have already gone all over this 
country, and, in fact, to all 

Sarts of the world, and still the 
emand grows greater as its 
value becomes more widely 
known. Have you this ])ook ? 
If not, order a copy to-day. 
in Thick Paper, 50 Cents, Postpaid. 




HOW TO MAKE 

AND 

HOWTOUSETHEM 



f PpShED BY ^"^ 
W.ATLEE BURPEE U? r 

Philadelphia. 



Elegantly Bound in Cloth, $1.00 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



AND THE USE OF 
INSECTICIDES. 



By Fkank W. Skmit.rs, 
Director of Fordhook Farm 
Laboratory. 
\ complete and conven- 
ient treatise on insects de- 
structive to Fruit, Field, and 
Trarden crops. Contains the 
hi test and best methods for 
l)reventing insect injuries 
and gives reliable formulas 
for making insecticides. 
Plainly written for the mil- 
lion, and filled with life-like 
illustrations which will 
greatly aid the farmer in 
identifying his insect foes. 

216 Pages. Fully Illustrated. Price 50 Cents. 
American Agriculturist, 3fay, 1894 .•—" Eminently practical and useful." 
PosTOx Herald, April 5, iS9i .•—" Worth its weight in gold to every agriculturist." 




CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS, OR 
ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The Poultry Yard 

HOW TO FURNISH AND MANAGE IT. 



By W. Atlee Burpee. Fully illustrated. We have just 

issued aijother edition of this popular book, very ruuch ameDded, 

with up-to-the-times methods and usages. Besides the de- 

scriptioDS of the leading 

Land and Water Fowls, 

it also contains chapters 

on the 

Best Plans of Poultry 
Houses— How to Make In- 
cubators—Selection AND 
Mating oe Stock — What 
AND How TO Feed — 
General Management — 
French Method of Kill- 
ing — Dressing and Ship- 
ping Poultry— Eggs and 
Chickens — D irections 
for Caponizing with 
Plain Illustrations — 
Diseases with Tried and 
Proven Prescriptions — 
How TO Raise Good Tur- 
keys, etc., etc. 

Price in paper covers, 
handsomely designed, 

50 cts. ; bound in cloth, 75 cts. , postpaid. 

CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS, OR 
ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. 




PUBLISHED BY 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



How TO Cook Vegetables. 



BY MRS. S. T. RORER. 

Principal of the Philadelphia Cooking School, Author of 
Mrs. Korer's Cook Book, Etc. 



This new book, published by ns. has met -with suocess beyond 
onr most sanguine expectations. Every family wants a copy, as 
Mrs. Rorer is acknowJedgcd authority \\y thousands of the best 
housekeepers everywhere. As all the proof-sheets have been care- 
fully revised by her personally, "HOW TO COOK VEGETA- 
BLES" will he found thoroughly trustworthy. The recipes 
given have all been proven by Mi-s. Eorerfrom practical tests in the 
kitchen and on the table. 



■>ricm 






l^ 



5 
-PRINCIPAL 



It is a book of 182 pages 
of the same size as T/te A'ifc/ien 
Garden, and gives niinierous 
recipes for cooking all vari- 
eties of vegetables in every 
style— luanj' of which will be 
new even to the most experi- 
enced housewives. As an illus- 
tration of how thoroughly tlie 
suV)jett is treated, we would 
mention that it gives forty 
■ways of cooking potatoes, 
twenty-six of tomatoes, and 
twenty-two of corn. It also 
gives twenty-eight recipes for 
making Socps and thirty- 
seven recipes for Salads. 
Besides " How to Cook Vege- 
tables," it also tells numerous 
ways How to Pickle,— How 
TO Preserve Fruits,— How 
TO Can for Winter Use, as 
well as how to serve vegetables 
cold. 

An important supplement to 
the general scope of this 
treatise is the addition, also by 
Mrs. Korer, of nearly fifty 
complete Menus, for spring, 
summer, autumn, and winter. 
In all, it is a most complete 
book, that will prove really 
v;duahle to every progressive 
housewife, 
he copyright is owned by us, is not for sale, and 



^r.\ 



,PHIUADELPHIA\ 



This new book, of which . . ^, . 

can only be had asji Premium by those who purchase Seeds, Bulbs, or Plants from 
us. In'order to place it within the reach of all we offer the paper-cover edition 
entirely FREE as a Premium on an order amounting to $3.00. A copy 
substantially bound in cloth, for kitchen use, can be had free with an order 
for $5.00. 

PUBLISHED BY 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA, 



A GRAND PAINTING 

OF 

Sweet Peas 

Size 13 X 16)4 inches, in Fourteen Colors. 
By Paul de Longpre. 



The great artist visited Fordhook Farm during mid- 
summer, when the large area of Sweet Peas gave rare 
beauty to our Trial Grounds. Amid these charming 
scenes, glowing with life and color and sweet with the 
delicate perfume of Sweet Peas, the famous painter of 
nature has caught the most elusive charms of leaf and 
flower, and transfigured them in imperishable life to his 
painting. This matchless specimen of the highest art 
has been reproduced in fourteen colors, making a picture 
that for chaste elegance it would be impossible to over- 
praise. So faithful has been the work of the lithographer 
that net even a trained critic could detect the difference 
from the original, except by the minutest examination. 

In this splendid painting are exhibited the latest and 
highest development in Sweet Peas, not in conventional 
colors, but in the living, vivid hues of nature. 

It is indeed a rare transcript from nature,— a dream 
in colors that should adorn the walls of every liome.^ 

In order that all may secure a copy of this dainty 
work of art we will sell it (to our customers) at lo cents 
per copy, mailed in a pasteboard tube; regular price 
20 cents. 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Philadelphia, Pa. 




A POT-PLANT OF CUPID.— FiOin a r/i<>/>,(/,ii/,,'i. 

The First and Only Dwarf Sweet Pea, 

BURPEE'S "CUPID." 

GROWS ONLY FIVE INCHES HIGH! 

THE FLORAL WONDER OF THE AGE! 

CUPID,— the greatest novelty ever known in flowers, — 
has won the highest honors possible in Europe. We had 

plants pown iu pots exhil)ite(l at the incoting of The Royal Hor= 
ticultural Society, in T.ondon, Enj^land, wlieie, hj/ nnanimoiis 
voiv of the C(»iniuif(t\ it received an Award of Merit — the highest 
liouor that can l)e conlened upon a new variety. "We also exhib- 
ited in Paris, France, on Julj' 11, 1895, at the' Societe National 
d' Horticulture, where it received a First=class Certificate, as a 
distinct nocclii/ of surpassing merit. 

"CI IPIO " ^^*^ foliage is very dark green; blossoms pure waxy- 

* white, of uiiequaled substance, and full size. Tfie plant 

does not grow over five inchi's high, and never more than twelve to fifteen inches in 
diameter. The stems are about four inclies long, bearing two or three blossoms, 
all very near the end of the stem. It is a wonderfully free >)lnr)nier, and carpets 
the grorind icith a mass of white from May until November. 

In regular=size packets (each containin;.; twenty seeds), per 
pkt. 25 cts.; five pkts. for $1.00; twelve pkts. for $2.00, 
postpaid, by mail, to any address. 

In half=size packets (ten seeds each), per pkt. 15 cts.; two 
pkts. for 25 cts.; ten pkts. for $1.00. 

ORDER TO=DAY fmni the Introducers, 

W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



BURPEE'S 

FARM ANNUAL FOR 1896. 



Larger and more Complete than Ever Before, 
this is now a handsome BOOK of 184 pages, with 
elegant colored plates and hundreds of illustrations from na- 
ture, deserving its well-known reputation as ** The Leading 
American Seed Catalogue.** While the price is ten 
cents (less than actual cost in quarter-million editions), it is 
mailed FREE to all planters who intend to purchase. 

Beautifully bound, the cover, painted in ten colors, appro- 
priately shows on front our new Dwarf Sweet Pea, Cupid, 
the floral wonder of the age^ which grows only five inches high, 
completely covered with bloom. The back pictures a portion 
of FoRDHOOK Farm, above which is displayed the well-known 
motto, ♦* BURPEE'S SEEDS GROW." 

Within is presented a feast of good things — spread over 
184 PAGES, all well worth reading.— An interesting 
account of Fordhook — the model seed farm of America — is 
followed by a review of useful Books on garden and farm 
topics, — free as premiums. Then come the Choicest Vege- 
tables, best strains of each, including rare Novelties of 
unusual merit; Improved Farm Seeds and Finest Flower 
Seeds, including many novelties of rich beauty ; summer-flow- 
ering Bulbs, and the celebrated Scott Koses and other se- 
lected Plants, such as cannot be had of the local florist, but 
which can be sent safely by mail. 



W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., 

PHILADELPHIA, PA, 



PUBLISHED BY 



W. At^ee 5urpee & Co., 
PH119ADEI9PHIA. 



RD-83 >4 






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DOBBS BROS. 

LIBRARY BINOINO 




NOV 81 A^ 



